Author: WhiteHouse

03.31.10 03:11 PM

The President called President Lee Myung-bak of the Republic of Korea today to offer his support and condolences following the sinking of the South Korean Navy vessel Cheonan on March 26. The President told President Lee that the thoughts and prayers of the American people are with the families of those missing and with the family of the South Korean Navy diver who died trying to rescue them. The President noted that the US Navy had extended assistance to South Korea’s ongoing search and recovery effort and said we were prepared to provide further help if needed. They also discussed the upcoming Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, DC on April 12-13.

White House.gov Press Office Feed

03.31.10 03:23 PM

TEXT OF A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT
TO THE CHAIRMEN AND RANKING MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE
AND SENATE COMMITTEES ON ARMED SERVICES, APPROPRIATIONS,
AND THE JUDICIARY, THE CHAIRMEN AND RANKING MEMBERS
OF THE HOUSE COMMITTEES ON HOMELAND SECURITY,
FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND PERMANENT SELECT COMMITTEE
ON INTELLIGENCE, AND THE CHAIRMEN AND
RANKING MEMBERS OF THE SENATE COMMITTEES
ON FOREIGN RELATIONS, HOMELAND SECURITY
AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS, AND INTELLIGENCE

March 30, 2010

Dear Mr. Chairman: (Dear Madam Chairman:)
(Dear Representative:) (Dear Senator:)

In response to the requirement of section 1117 of the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2009, and in order to keep the Congress fully informed, I am providing the attached report related to Afghanistan and Pakistan.

My Administration completed a thorough policy review last November, and I announced a new approach at West Point on December 1, 2009. As with the development of that policy, we have continued to consult closely with the Congress on the implementation of this new approach. We are now implementing this policy and do not believe further adjustments are required at this time. Consistent with the statute and given the time necessary to accumulate data, the attached report covers the period ending December 31, 2009. To the extent possible, the report provides an update on our assessment since that date.

As the Congress begins consideration of the supplemental, I underscore our Nation’s interests in the successful implementation of this policy.
Sincerely,

BARACK OBAMA

White House.gov Press Office Feed

03.31.10 02:22 PM

1:34 P.M. EDT

MRS. OBAMA: Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you, everyone. (Applause.) Thanks so much, everyone. (Applause.) Please rest. You’re working hard enough as it is.

Well, hello, everyone, and welcome to the White House, sort of. We’re across the street, but it’s good to have you all here.

I want to thank Valerie for that very kind introduction, for her outstanding work not just on this issue but on so many others; her friendship and support. And I also want to thank her staff again who have done just a phenomenal job in organizing this conference and bringing us all together. This is just a wonderful way to spend an afternoon on an important issue.

I’d also like to thank all of the outstanding members of this administration who are here for taking the time to be here today.

And I want to thank everyone who has joined us to share their ideas and expertise on this critically important topic. Thank you for taking the time.

As Valerie said, we’ve come here today to have a conversation about workplace flexibility: an important part of balancing our responsibilities as employees, as breadwinners, mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, husbands and wives.

It’s an issue that many folks have struggled with for so many years, and one that we as a society just hasn’t really quite figured out yet.

And as the parents of two beautiful young daughters, it is an issue that is particularly important to me and my husband, as you know. As Valerie said, I’ve talked about this so often.

And it is true, in our current life, we are incredibly blessed. We have amazing resources and support systems here at the White House that I could have never imagined. Number one of them is having Grandmother living upstairs. (Laughter.) We all need one of those. So can you figure that out? (Laughter.)

But we didn’t always live in the White House. And for many years before coming to Washington, I was a working mother, doing my best to juggle the demands of my job with the needs of my family, with a husband who has crazy ideas. (Laughter.)

And as I’ve said before, I consider myself, as many of us in this room do, as a 120-percenter, which means that if I’m not doing something at 120 percent, I feel like I’m failing. And I know you all can relate to that. So while I did the best that I could at work and at home, I felt like I wasn’t keeping up with either one of them enough.

And I was lucky — I had understanding bosses, I had very accommodating jobs. In fact, in the last job I had before coming to the White House — I remember this clearly — I was on maternity leave with Sasha, still trying to figure out what to do with my life, and I got a call for an interview for this position, a senior position at the hospitals. And I thought, okay, here we go. So I had to scramble to look for babysitting, and couldn’t find one. So what did I do? I packed up that little infant, and I put her in the stroller, and I brought her with me. And I prayed that her presence wouldn’t be an automatic disqualifier. And it was fortunate for me that, number one, she slept through the entire interview. (Laughter.) And I was still breastfeeding — if that’s not too much information. (Laughter.) And I got the job.

But I know that I was lucky, number one. I was interviewing with the president that had just had a child himself and was very understanding and open-minded. But I know that most folks are nowhere near as lucky as I was. Particularly right now with the job market the way it is, many folks can’t afford to be picky about the jobs that they take. Many folks don’t have access to any kind of family leave policies whatsoever. No flexible working arrangements. Many people don’t even have a paid sick day. So they are struggling — struggling every day to find affordable childcare; or someone to look after an aging parent, which is becoming more the issue; scrambling to make things work when the usual arrangements fall through. All of us have been through that.

So they spend a lot of time hoping and praying that everything will work out just perfectly. I remember those days, just the delicate balance of perfection. And as all the parents in this room know, it’s never perfect — ever.

But here’s the thing: As we all know here today, it just doesn’t have to be that way, doesn’t have to be that hard. And that’s something that I learned for myself, not just as an employee but as a manager, when I discovered that the more flexibility that I gave to my staff to be good parents, and I valued that, the happier my staff was likely to be and the greater chance they were to stay and not leave, because they knew they might not find the same kind of flexibility somewhere else.

So it’s something that many of the companies here today have discovered, very fortunately, that flexible policies actually make employees more, not less, productive — because as you all know, instead of spending time worrying about what’s happening at home, your employees have the support and the peace of mind that they desperately need to concentrate on their work.

You all are pioneering the innovative ideas and the best practices to make balancing work and family life easier for your employees and better for your bottom lines.

You’re doing so much — providing discounts on childcare — important; setting up scholarship programs to help pay for college — amazing.

Many of you are offering compressed work weeks, you’re offering generous leave time, and mentoring programs that connect new parents or caregivers with folks who’ve been through it before.

And you’re giving employees the right to even approach you and have an open and honest conversation about how to create a more flexible schedule. That is critical.

So here in the federal government, we’re trying to follow your lead, putting our money where our mouth is to adopt more of those best practices –- from expanding telework access to providing emergency childcare and more affordable day care.

And that’s why this administration supports the Healthy Families Act, which would let millions more working Americans earn up to seven days a year of paid sick time to care for themselves and their families. Doesn’t seem like a lot, but it’s important.

These are just a few of the examples of what we’re going to be talking about today. And I’m looking forward to hearing more of the many ideas, the ways that you’re figuring out how to make this issue work for your employees.

We are excited today to learn about your ideas, your best practices, what many of you have done to support your employees and to boost your bottom line at the same time.

So with that, I want to again thank you all. I want to thank you for the work that you’ve done in your companies to set the tone. I want to thank you for taking the time to share your ideas with us today.

So now my work is done. I can now turn it over to Claire and the panel, and you guys will figure this all out. (Laughter.)

MS. SHIPMAN: Forty-five minutes. (Laughter.)

MRS. OBAMA: That’s right, 45 minutes. Shorter than health care, right?

MS. SHIPMAN: A little. (Laughter.)

MRS. OBAMA: Thanks so much. (Applause.)

END
1:40 P.M. EDT

White House.gov Press Office Feed

03.31.10 01:30 PM

4:34 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, everybody. (Applause.) Hello, hello, hello. Thank you, everybody. Please, please, have a seat. First, one caveat — I will not be good — as good as Michelle. (Laughter.) So keep your expectations lower.

I want to, first of all, acknowledge John Berry for the extraordinary work he’s doing here and for helping to organize this. Thank you, John. (Applause.)

In addition, we’ve got — Secretary Hilda Solis is here from our Department of Labor. (Applause.) Dr. Christina Romer, who’s the chair of our Council of Economic Advisers — where are you, Christina? Right there. (Applause.) Valerie Jarrett, a senior advisor and chair of the White House Council on Women and Girls. (Applause.) Ms. Melody Barnes I actually just saw run off to the garden. She was on my list — the chair of our Domestic Policy Council — but she’s not here. Karen Mills, who is the administrator for our Small Business Administration. (Applause.) And Ms. Martha Johnson, administrator of the General Services Administration. (Applause.)

So I understand you’ve had a wonderful session. I heard all about it. And I want to thank all of you for joining us today and sharing your thoughts on what we can do — as business leaders and advocates, as employees and as government officials — to modernize our workplaces to meet the needs of our workforce and our families.

And all of us here today know just how wide that gap has grown. And we’re all familiar with the economic and demographic changes that have brought us to this point — how over the past generation or two, as costs have risen and wages have lagged, many families have found they can no longer survive on just one income. And at the same time, we’ve broken down barriers and opened up opportunities, so more women have entered into the workforce, bringing home paychecks that are increasingly critical to supporting families.

Today, two-thirds of American families with kids are headed by two working parents or a single working parent, and the result is the rise of what one expert I know refers to as “the juggler family.” For these families, every day is a high wire act. Everything is scheduled right down to the minute. There’s no room for error. If the car breaks down, or somebody gets sick, or there’s a problem at school, that begins a cascading domino effect that leaves everybody scrambling.

And I have to say that this is something that Michelle and I have struggled with in our own family. As she told you earlier today, it wasn’t that long ago that both of us were working full-time outside the home while raising two young daughters. I was away for days on end for my job, and Michelle was working hard at hers, so a lot of times we felt like we were just barely keeping everything together. When we were at work, we were worrying about what was happening at home. When we were at home, we were worrying about work. We both felt our overloaded schedules were taking a toll on our marriage.

And we had it relatively easy. We could afford good health care. We had a wonderful mother-in-law, grandmother — (laughter) — who could help out. We had to ship her in, even in the White House. (Laughter.) We both had jobs where we could rework our schedules in an emergency without risking being fired or having our paychecks docked.

Now, most folks just aren’t that lucky — particularly in today’s economy when many people aren’t just working one job but are having to work two or three to get by, or they’re working longer hours, or they’re out of a job and they can’t afford to be choosy about things like flexibility and benefits.

And this disconnect between the needs of our families and the demands of our workplace also reflects a broader problem, that today, we as a society still see workplace flexibility policies as a special perk for women rather than a critical part of a workplace that can help all of us. There’s still this perception out there that an employee who needs some time to tend to an aging parent or attend to a parent-teacher’s conference isn’t fully committed to his or her job; or that if you make a workplace more flexible, it necessarily will be less profitable.

Now, it’s true that women are still disproportionately affected by this issue — something Michelle always reminds me of — (laughter) — which is another reason why it’s such great concern for me. But plenty of fathers out there wish they had more time to spend with their kids. Plenty of sons wish they could do more for their elderly parents. Plenty of workers — both women and men — wish they could go back to school so they can beef up their skills and advance their careers. And there are plenty of communities that desperately need the new jobs we can create when we embrace teleworking and mobile workplaces.

And as for how this issue affects companies’ bottom lines, a report by the White House Council of Economic Advisers that we’re releasing today found that companies with flexible work arrangements can actually have lower turnover and absenteeism, and higher productivity, and healthier workers.

So let’s be clear: Workplace flexibility isn’t just a women’s issue. It’s an issue that affects the well-being of our families and the success of our businesses. It affects the strength of our economy — whether we’ll create the workplaces and jobs of the future we need to compete in today’s global economy.

And ultimately, it reflects our priorities as a society — our belief that no matter what each of us does for a living, caring for our loved ones and raising the next generation is the single most important job that we have. I think it’s time we started making that job a little easier for folks.

Many of you here represent companies and workplaces that are already doing just that — embracing telecommuting, flextime, compressed work weeks, job sharing, flexible start and end times, and helping your employees generally find quality childcare and eldercare. And if you’re doing this not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because you’ve found that what’s good for your workers and is good for your families can be good for your bottom lines and your shareholders as well, then you need to spread the word.

My administration is committed to supporting efforts like these. Our budget for next year includes competitive grants to help states launch their own paid-leave programs. It increases funding for childcare and nearly doubles the Child Care Tax Credit for millions of middle-class families. And it provides support for folks caring for aging relatives, and for seniors who want to live independently for as long as possible.

We’re also committed to practicing what we preach and serving as a model for the policies that we’re encouraging. John has been all over this. That’s the purpose of the pilot project that John just told you about.

And that’s why John is working with our Chief Technology Officer, Aneesh Chopra, to provide opportunities for federal employees — here in Washington, but also all across America — to telework on a regular basis. Where regulations are in the way, we’ll see what we can do to change them. Where new technology can help, we’ll find a secure, cost-effective way to install it. Where training is needed to help managers and workers embrace this approach, we’ll adopt the best practices from the private sector.

Because in the end, we believe that all of this isn’t just about providing a better work experience for our employees, it’s about providing better, more efficient service for the American people — even in the face of snowstorms and other crises that keep folks from getting to the office. (Laughter.) I do not want to see the government close because of snow again. (Laughter.)

It’s about attracting and retaining top talent in the federal workforce and empowering them to do their jobs, and judging their success by the results that they get — not by how many meetings they attend, or how much face-time they log, or how many hours are spent on airplanes. It’s about creating a culture where, as Martha Johnson puts it, “Work is what you do, not where you are.”

And in these efforts, we’ll be looking to all of you for advice and ideas. And we plan to continue this conversation in the coming months, holding forums and roundtables in communities across the country, so we can seek out more good ideas and best practices that we can adopt and promote.

So, again, I thank you for being part of this forum. I look forward to hearing about what you all came up with today. And I look forward to working with all of you in the years to come.

Thank you very much, everybody. (Applause.)

END
4:44 P.M. EDT

White House.gov Press Office Feed

03.31.10 12:10 PM

On Wednesday, March 31, 2010, the President signed into law:

H.R. 4957, the “Federal Aviation Administration Extension Act of 2010,” which extends through April 30, 2010, authorities to collect taxes that fund the Airport and Airway Trust Fund, make expenditures from the Airport and Airway Trust Fund, and make grants to airports under the Airport Improvement Program; and

S. 1147, the “Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act of 2009 or “PACT Act,” which requires entities that sell or ship cigarettes in interstate commerce to register with the Department of Justice; establishes requirements for entities engaged in mail-order or Internet sales of cigarettes related to shipping and packaging, recordkeeping, and tax collection; requires the Justice Department to maintain a list of unregistered or noncompliant sellers; and prohibits delivery of cigarettes through the U.S. Postal Service.

White House.gov Press Office Feed

03.31.10 02:52 PM

A PROCLAMATION

The rights and benefits working Americans enjoy today were not easily gained; they had to be won. It took generations of courageous men and women, fighting to secure decent working conditions, organizing to demand fair pay, and sometimes risking their lives. Some, like Cesar Estrada Chavez, made it the cause of their lives. Today, on what would have been his 83rd birthday, we celebrate Cesar’s legacy and the progress achieved by all who stood alongside him.

Raised by a family of migrant farm workers, Cesar Chavez spent his youth moving across the American Southwest, working in fields and vineyards, and experiencing firsthand the hardships he would later crusade to abolish. At the time, farm workers were deeply impoverished and frequently exploited, exposed to very hazardous working conditions, and often denied clean drinking water, toilets, and other basic necessities. The union Cesar later founded with Dolores Huerta, the United Farm Workers of America (UFW), still addresses these issues today.

After serving in the United States Navy, Cesar Chavez became a community organizer and began his lifelong campaign for civil rights and social justice. Applying the principles of nonviolence, he empowered countless laborers, building a movement that grew into the UFW. He led workers in marches, strikes, and boycotts, focusing our Nation’s attention on their plight and using the power of picket lines to win union contracts.

"The love for justice that is in us is not only the best part of our being, but it is also the most true to our nature," Cesar Chavez once said. Since our Nation’s earliest days of independence, we have struggled to perfect the ideals of equal justice and opportunity enshrined in our founding documents. As Cesar suggests, justice may be true to our nature, but as history teaches us, it will not prevail unless we defend its cause.

Few Americans have led this charge so tirelessly, and for so many, as Cesar Chavez. To this day, his rallying cry — "Sí, se puede," or "Yes, we can," — inspires hope and a spirit of possibility in people around the world. His movement strengthened our country, and his vision lives on in the organizers and social entrepreneurs who still empower their neighbors to improve their communities.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 31, 2010, as Cesar Chavez Day. I call upon all Americans to observe this day with appropriate service, community, and education programs to honor Cesar Chavez’s enduring legacy.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirty-first day of March, in the year of our Lord two thousand ten, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-fourth.

BARACK OBAMA

White House.gov Press Office Feed

03.31.10 11:09 AM

I was saddened to hear about the passing of Jaime Escalante today. While most of us got to know him through the movie that depicted his work teaching inner-city students calculus, the students whose lives he changed remain the true testament to his life’s work. Throughout his career Jaime opened the doors of success and higher education for his students one by one, and proved that where a person came from did not have to determine how far they could go. He instilled knowledge in his students, but more importantly he helped them find the passion and the will to fulfill their potential. Jaime’s story became famous. But he represented countless, valiant teachers throughout our country whose great works are known only to the young people whose lives they change. Michelle and I offer our condolences to Jaime’s family, and to all those who knew him and whose lives he touched.

White House.gov Press Office Feed

03.31.10 01:51 PM

4:05 P.M. EDT

MRS. OBAMA: Hey, guys. What’s going on? Are you awake?

CHILDREN: Yes!

MRS. OBAMA: Yes! What have you been doing? Just sitting here?

CHILDREN: Yes.

MRS. OBAMA: Did they let you have an apple?

CHILDREN: No.

MRS. OBAMA: Sam, what are you doing? (Laughter.) You can have an apple. How about that? Way to start.

Hi, everybody. Welcome to the White House! How many of you have been here before? Yes, I see my familiar faces. What’s going on? How was summer? How was the start of — how was winter break? How was Christmas? I haven’t seen you in a while. Was it good?

CHILDREN: Yes!

MRS. OBAMA: Are you ready to work?

CHILDREN: Yes!

MRS. OBAMA: How are my new faces? Let me see the new people. See some hands. Good to have you. Welcome.

Well, thank you. Thanks for coming here.

I wanted to start by thanking a couple of people besides you all, right.

Okay, the first — I want to thank the President’s Cabinet members who are here today with me: Secretary of Agriculture, Secretary Vilsack, this gentleman to my right. (Applause.) And the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Secretary Sebelius. (Applause.) They have done so much to help us get the “Let’s Move” campaign going, and I am so grateful for their support. Some of you have seen these guys around. You’ve seen Secretary Vilsack. He’s been at stuff with us. So they’ve been really helpful.

And I also have to thank Melody Barnes. Is Melody here? Melody is coming, but Melody has also been a big help. She’s the President’s Domestic Policy Advisor, and she’s chair of the Childhood Obesity Task Force, so she’s been a big help.

And I also want to thank somebody special who’s with us today, and that’s Christy Vilsack who is Secretary Vilsack’s wife. Raise your hand, Christy, so the kids can see you. (Applause.) I know that Christy is a really good cook, so she’s going to really be excited about what we’re going to plant, because she’ll really know what to do with all the stuff that we plant.

And finally I want to thank all of you — you guys. We’ve got our old familiar faces from Bancroft School who are here. Yay, Elementary School Bancroft. (Applause.) And we also have students from Hollin Meadows Elementary School. Hey, guys. (Applause.)

Some of your classmates and some of you guys were part of helping us get the first garden ready, right? You guys did all the hard work. And this year we’re ready to do it again. Can you believe it’s been a whole year? Can you believe it? (Laughter.) A whole year! You guys have grown so much! But I’m excited you guys are here.

Just last year we began by getting — what did we do first? The first thing you did when you came here, what did we have to do? We had to get the soil ready, because if you remember, this was all grass. And you remember we had to create those mounds because the soil wasn’t really ready to plant; we didn’t even know if it was going to grow anything? So you guys helped us get the soil ready.

And then we came and we did what after the soil was ready? What did we do? What did we put in the ground? We put some seeds in and we put some buds in. Last year we did broccoli. What else did we plant?

CHILD: Sweet potatoes.

MRS. OBAMA: We did some sweet potatoes in the fall. What did we do in the spring? What were the vines that came up? Peas! We did some peas. Sam knows. Very good, Sam. (Laughter.) And we did some onions. And we did a bunch of herbs. Don’t you remember we did chives and garlic and rosemary and all that good stuff? And for dessert, remember over there we planted all the berries? We have blueberries and raspberries and blackberries.

And you guys remember the beehive that’s right over there that’s still there? We got good honey, and we used it to make a salad.

So then we did all that and we watched it grow. And wasn’t it amazing how it went from this to — what? Do you remember what the garden looked like when we were tunneling through and planting? Everything was high. Everything gets to be about my height.

So it is pretty exciting. So last October, with all the work that you guys did, you know what we were able to do? We harvested over 55 different kinds of healthy foods — 55 in that little piece of dirt — 55. And you know how many pounds of fruits and vegetables we harvested? Can you guess? Give me a guess. What’s your closest guess? Yes.

CHILD: One hundred and four?

MRS. OBAMA: No, higher. What?

CHILDREN: Eight hundred?

MRS. OBAMA: Eight hundred? Close.

CHILD: Five hundred?

MRS. OBAMA: Higher.

CHILD: One thousand.

MRS. OBAMA: One thousand pounds. One thousand pounds of food. Can you imagine that? That’s pretty amazing.

So we learned a lot about how fun gardening was — at least I did. I wasn’t really a gardener, and I’ve had so much fun. No matter where you live or what age you are, you can grow stuff. And also it’s pretty fun being outside here with all of you guys. I look forward to being outside in the sun. It’s getting a little hot now, but it’s good digging in the dirt, getting a little dirty, getting dirt under your nails. Remember we were pulling up those big leeks? What were those things we were pulling up? Some were potatoes, but you were pulling up something heavy. What were those big root things we — the fennel, that’s right. You remember the fennel that we pulled up?

So there’s nothing like watching tiny seeds grow into something amazing. But the thing is — and I don’t know if you guys have been watching — but the garden was about more than just planning healthy food, right, because we were able to feed not just the staff at the White House, but we provided food to people at homeless shelters. So we used that food to feed a lot of people. But we also began a conversation about getting kids and parents and teachers all across the country thinking about living healthy.

So just think, the work that you did helped start a national and international conversation. You guys did it. Everybody is talking about that garden, not just here in Washington, not just here in the United States, but all over the world. And we’ve been able to start thinking about things like getting kids to try new foods that they’ve never tried, vegetables that they’ve never had. You guys have been helpful in getting your families to think more healthy about what they eat, getting your communities to make different decisions. We’ve also even started talking to schools about how do we make your school lunches even more healthy, right?

So everyone is really focused on this. We’ve even talked to the grocery manufacturers, the people that make the food. And they’re trying to figure out how do they lower sugar and salt and fats in your food so that you get healthy. Everybody is really focused on this.

So this has been great. And it’s because of the work that all of you guys have done. Would you ever imagine that what you did last year would lead to all of this? Would you? Could you? And we’re ready to do it again this year. Are we ready?

CHILDREN: Yes.

MRS. OBAMA: So we’re going to get started this year with our new group of students, because each of you has a garden in your school. Bancroft, you guys have a garden, and you’re doing good work, and I got to go and visit your garden. You guys taught me some new things about planting and we worked together. And I hope to visit your school again sometime this year or in the fall.

And you guys from Hollin Meadows, I got to visit your garden as well. You guys are doing some really cool stuff with education and figuring out how to tie your garden in with science and math and everything. How many of you guys from Hollin Meadows work in your garden? How many people have helped with the garden? And that’s probably why you’re here.

So it’s important for you all to know that with the power of what you’re doing with gardening, you’ve got the whole country talking about gardening and eating healthy.

So I am grateful to you all for the work that you’ve done. You’ve done an excellent job, and we couldn’t do it — I don’t think anybody would have paid much attention to this garden if it weren’t for you.

So I am so proud of you all for what you’ve done, and we’re ready to get started again. And as a result of your efforts, we started this big campaign called “Let’s Move,” where we’re asking parents to get better information and make different decisions. We’re working with athletes who are going to start trying to get you guys moving. We’ve asked you all to do your parts. We’ve asked you to make different choices. We’ve asked you to turn off the TV a little bit and get more exercise and play outside. Everybody is ready to do their part.

So you guys have just been a great support to us here at the White House, and I’m looking so forward to starting this garden for the second year. And hopefully we can make some more changes, we can get more kids focused on eating healthy and we can educate the whole country and maybe even the whole world. What do you think about that?

All right. So now I’m going to turn it over to Secretary Sebelius — you’re next. And then Secretary Vilsack is going to say a few things to welcome you guys, and then we’re going to get going, okay?

All right, so here’s Secretary Sebelius.

END
4:14 P.M. EDT

White House.gov Press Office Feed

03.31.10 09:50 AM

Small Business Owners, Workers, Business and Labor Leaders, and Experts Join Administration Officials to Discuss Workplace Practices for a Changing American Workforce

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, President Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama and the White House Council on Women and Girls are hosting the White House Forum on Workplace Flexibility to discuss the importance of creating workplace practices that allow America’s working men and women to meet the demands of their jobs without sacrificing the needs of their families.

Small business owners, business leaders, policy experts, workers and labor leaders are joining with senior administration officials today to share their ideas and strategies for making the workplace more flexible for American workers and families. The opening and closing sessions, as well as five breakout sessions focused on best practices and benefits for the American workplace and workforce, are streaming live on www.WhiteHouse.gov/live. In addition, much of the event is streaming on Facebook and Ustream, and the White House will include comments taken through these social networks in the feedback collected through the forum.

In conjunction with the forum, the President’s Council of Economic Advisers is releasing a report presenting an economic perspective on flexible workplace policies and practices. The report documents some of the changes in the U.S. workforce which have increased the need for flexibility in the workplace, including the increased number of women entering the labor force, the prevalence of families where all adults work, increasing eldercare responsibilities, and the rising importance of continuing education. It then examines the current state of flexible work arrangements and discusses the economic benefits of workplace flexibility – such as reduced absenteeism, lower turnover, improved health of workers, and increased productivity. The analysis is available online here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/files/docu…lexibility.pdf.

"Workplace flexibility isn’t just a women’s issue. It’s an issue that affects the well-being of our families and the success of our businesses," said President Obama. "It affects the strength of our economy – whether we’ll create the workplaces and jobs of the future that we need to compete in today’s global economy."

“Flexible policies actually make employees more – not less – productive,” said Mrs. Obama. “Instead of spending time worrying about what’s happening at home, employees have the support and the peace of mind they need to concentrate at work which is good for their families – and the bottom line.”
The Office of Personnel Management is also announcing a pilot program to incorporate flexibility in the government to provide better, more efficient service for the American people – even in the face of snow storms and other emergencies. The pilot program will build on the cost savings telework provided during last winter’s snow storms and expand opportunities for federal employees, here in Washington and across America, to telework on a regular basis.

"Employers, including the federal government, will have to implement flexible work policies if they want to attract the best and the brightest," said Valerie Jarrett, Senior Adviser to the President and Chair of the White House Council on Women and Girls. " The President is committed to making sure that the federal government can compete for talent because he knows that good people produce better work, which in turn, leads to better service for the American people."
Shortly after taking office, the President signed into law the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, restoring basic protections against pay discrimination for women and other workers, and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which is delivering relief to working families across the country, including tax credits and child care assistance for working families.

The President’s Budget for FY2011 builds on those initiatives with a series of investments to support caregivers for elderly relatives or family members with disabilities, to help families afford the cost of quality child care, to aid states wishing to establish paid leave funds, and to build the knowledge base about work-family policies.

White House.gov Press Office Feed

03.31.10 10:42 AM

12:38 P.M. EDT

MR. BURTON: Hi, guys. So we’re just going to go ahead and just get started.

Q Going to leap right in?

MR. BURTON: Yes.

Q So can we talk about the politics of the offshore drilling announcement?

MR. BURTON: Sure.

Q Both sides. How can — can you guys afford to kind of anger the environmentalists, sort of liberal side of your base, with the pretty expansive decision on offshore drilling? And then, on the other side, how much do you think it can actually help in bringing Republicans along on climate change?

MR. BURTON: Well, it’s the President’s view that what we need to do here is take a comprehensive approach to energy policy. And there are people on the right who support some aspects of that; there’s people on the left who support some aspects of that. But he didn’t go into this looking at what the political coalition was going to be getting if this passed. He went into this thinking what’s the best policy for our country and how do we get it done.

It’s something that he talked about on the campaign trail; it’s something that he’s talked about for a very long time. So I think that for people who have followed the President, a lot of this policy isn’t much of a surprise to them.

Q Right, but —

MR. BURTON: One thing I would say, though, Jennifer, is just that I was — the President was encouraged this morning to see Senator McConnell’s spokesperson say that this was an issue that he had spoken specifically with President Obama about. And so it does look like there’s some support on both sides of the aisle. We’ll have a rigorous debate about this and hopefully get something done.

Q Well, can you talk, though, specifically about environmentalists? Obviously they’re not happy with the way this decision played out. So how much can you afford — understood that it’s a decision he had kind of hinted at, hinted he was going to make, but at the same time he has to deal with the fallout from that decision. So how does that play out for you?

MR. BURTON: Sure. Well, we’re the Democratic Party; we often have disagreements among our friends. But the President is going to continue to talk to folks in the environmental community, and people in the Democratic Party, and people in the Republican Party, to make the most amount of progress that we can make on this critical issue. It’s important because we need to decrease our dependence on foreign oil and we need to move forward on some of these investments in order to create some of the most important jobs that we can create here in the 21st century.

The President’s view is that the country that comes out on top — on investments in renewable energy and on creating new technology — is going to be leader in the 21st century, and he’s not playing for second place.

Q So the drilling announced today — there was no thought about the implications this might have for advancing the climate change legislation that seems to be running into obstacles in Congress?

MR. BURTON: Well, I would say that it’s obviously a part of the climate legislation and the entire package that the President is working with Congress to move forward. So I would say that this is mostly about coming through on a promise that he made to the American people that he would have a comprehensive energy plan that would include some increased domestic production of energy but also some big investments in renewable technology, as well as finding ways to promote efficiency and things like that. So all these things are connected.

Q Well, Robert yesterday showed sort of acceptance of a timetable of getting financial regulatory reform through Congress onto the President’s desk by no later than September. What is the timetable you all are thinking of for climate change legislation?

MR. BURTON: I don’t have specific dates for you necessarily, but this is something that the President thinks we need to move forward on as quickly as possible. As recently as a couple weeks ago he had a bipartisan group of senators into the White House to talk about some of the proposals that they have, some ways that we can come together in order to make progress on this issue. And he’s going to continue to work with them in order to make progress as fast as we can.

Q Does the President believe that this can be done before the midterm elections in November?

MR. BURTON: His goal is to do this as fast as he possibly can.

Yunji.

Q I’m curious, what changed? I mean, the President, again and again on the campaign trail, said that this was — this would be insignificant, that expanding these kind of leases would not do much in terms of consumer relief, short term or long term. So what’s different?

MR. BURTON: Well, what the President said was that there’s no silver bullet when it comes to decreasing our dependence on foreign oil and having a comprehensive view on energy. If you remember the conversation that was being had, a lot of people treated offshore drilling as a panacea to solve all of our problems as it related to energy. But what the President thought was that it just had to be one part of a comprehensive strategy to dealing with that.

That’s why, over the course of the presidency, you’ve heard him, at the State of the Union, talk about this, and in other venues talk about it. He’s talked about increasing production of domestic oil. He’s talked about finding ways to get nuclear energy moving in this country, clean coal moving in this country, and all those different things.

But along with the increased production, he’s talked about ways to make vehicles more efficient. There’s new fuel-efficiency standards, which is something that was very hard to get an agreement on but, bringing all the relevant parties to the table, he was able to. He’s done things to make the federal fleet more fuel efficient, using hybrid vehicles, buying plug-in cars, to make sure that we’re doing everything we can, from the federal government’s standpoint, in order to decrease our dependence on foreign oil.

So nothing has changed. What you see here today is a fulfillment of what the President said he was going to do.

Q But the President said that this was insignificant. If it’s insignificant, then — and you have the kind of political fallout that Jennifer is talking about potentially happening, then what makes this worth it?

MR. BURTON: What the President said was that this in and of itself would not be enough to get us on a path to energy independence, and so as one part of his strategy, finding places where you can reasonably and safely drill offshore to increase production is a key part of that. So — but it’s just one part of that. And that’s what he said in the campaign and that’s what he’s following through on today.

Dan.

Q Why did the President not go further in terms of drilling off of Alaska where it’s believed there are a lot of resources?

MR. BURTON: Well, what the President thinks we ought to do is use the best science available and the safest methods that we can in order to find oil and gas, and then go and retrieve it and use it domestically. So what this proposal represents is what he and the team of experts around him think is the best way to go about that in the most responsible and safe way.

Q On health care, what’s going on behind the scenes in terms of the President selling to the American people — beyond just the trip that we’re seeing this week — selling to the American people the short-term and long-term benefits of this new law?

MR. BURTON: Well, as the President said when we were going through this process to get health care passed into law, he was going to spend some time going out talking to the American people specifically about the short-term and the long-term benefits that they were going to get out of it. And that’s what you see. Tomorrow the President will be in Maine where he’ll be talking about some of the benefits that small businesses will get in the short term and the long term as it relates to health care.

So you’ll see the President travel and talk about it. You’ll see members of the administration talking about it. And we’re going to continue to make sure the American people know exactly what’s in this bill for them and when it comes into effect.

Q Bill, I want to revisit a health care issue from yesterday. Regarding the write-downs for big companies like AT&T, Caterpillar, I’m unclear — is it the White House’s position that these write-downs are purely political; that they could have been done in a more gradual way? Or is it the position that, yes, their hands are tied by accounting rules and they had to take these write-downs immediately?

MR. BURTON: Well, I’m not going to make a statement on the motivations of people announcing what 30-year projections are saying about the impact that health care reform will have on their business. But it’s the White House’s view that all the benefits in health care reform will have a much greater positive impact on those businesses than the loss of a double subsidy will to their business.

Q You seem to be scoffing at a breakdown over 30 years. Is that true that you’re saying this —

MR. BURTON: No, I’m not scoffing at it. I’m just pointing it out.

Q Okay, and secondly — it sounded like scoffing. Secondly, I sent you a high-priority email yesterday — I’m sure you saw it — but I was questioning the reading habits of Mr. Gibbs. Has Mr. Gibbs actually read all the reports he cited yesterday to justify — to claim that there will a bending of the cost curve in the health care bill?

MR. BURTON: I assume that he has, because he’s a really fast reader and he’s been very interested in the subject. But the good news for you is that I’m just doing this part-time, and you’ll have your chance to ask him directly.

Bill.

Q Does the President believe that his proposal today will make it easier to raise the cap and trade bill and actually get it debated in the Senate?

MR. BURTON: Well, the President’s view is that what he did today is an important part of moving it forward. And so the President has been —

Q But I’m asking about the politics.

MR. BURTON: I understand that. And I know that here in Washington — I haven’t been here that long, but I know that everything is viewed through a lens of who does this help, who does this hurt, who’s up, who’s down. The President’s view is that this is the best policy, and that working with members of the Senate on both sides — the Republicans and the Democrats — this is policy — that there are things that people of both political persuasions can agree to and we can move forward on it.

Q Presumably you’ve also been here long enough to know that that’s the way they think inside, too.

MR. BURTON: Well, I wouldn’t go that far. Having talked to the folks who I work with here in the West Wing all day today, I know that there is a real belief that what we’ve proposed today doesn’t just follow through on what the President promised on the campaign for the sake of following through on it. It also would put our country on a new track towards more domestic production of energy, towards more renewable energy use, and towards creating jobs of the future.

Q If you’re willing to set deadlines for other legislation, will you set a deadline for getting cap and trade passed?

MR. BURTON: I don’t have a deadline for you today. I just know the President wants to move forward on this as fast as possible.

Savannah.

Q Given that you guys haven’t considered the politics at all with this, is it possible there was a strategic blunder here by conceding so much — doing offshore drilling, you’ve announced new grants for nuclear reactors — without getting any concessions from Republicans? You didn’t have any Republicans standing up there with the President today. Is it possible that you’ve kind of given away the store without any guarantees that you’ll get Republican support in exchange for that?

MR. BURTON: Well, I’d start by saying that actually Senator McConnell’s spokesperson’s statement was very encouraging, that this was an issue that he had brought up specifically with the President and that we believe that we’ll be able to work with Republicans on. But also, like I said, this — none of this should have been a surprise to anybody. We’ve been talking about all these different elements for a very long time and the President is following through on promises that he made to have a comprehensive energy strategy.

So in terms of the politics of this, we think that there are good things in this package that appeal to people of all political persuasions and that in the short term, not the long term, we’re going to be able to move forward and pass some of this into law.

Q Well, McConnell — in his statement, which I just read, actually, since you mentioned that, kind of frames it as a small step. All the Republican statements say — have kind of a lukewarm response to it. Will the President get involved as closely as he was by the end of health care? Did he learn something from the health care debate that he plans to use in this debate?

MR. BURTON: Well, I would say for starters I don’t think there is anybody who anticipated that the President would roll out an energy plan and people on the Republican side would be cheerleading it right from the get-go. But if you saw what happened over the course of the health care debate, where you had senators saying that this would be the President’s Waterloo, stop this at all costs, this is the way that we can halt the agenda of the President, I think even lukewarm statements are a step in the right direction.

Mark.

Q Bill, to what extent is the administration joining the chorus of those who chant, “drill, baby, drill”?

MR. BURTON: Well, I would say that this comprehensive approach is a lot less “drill, baby, drill” and more “drill where it’s responsible, promote efficiency, invest in clean energy, and create jobs of the future.” I know that doesn’t fit on a t-shirt quite as well, but that’s a lot more about what President Obama thinks is the right direction for this country.

Q And is it the plan to expand oil and gas leases throughout the Atlantic Ocean? I read a figure of 160 million acres of ocean would be available for new oil and gas drilling.

MR. BURTON: I don’t know the specifics on the acreage. I think there’s actually a call happening right now that some of your colleagues are on where they’re going through some of those particulars.

Roger.

Q Bill, looking ahead to Friday, the jobs report comes out, as you know, and the President is going to be down in North Carolina. The analysts so far seem to suggest that this will be showing job creation for the second time since the recession started. Does that suggest that the White House will stop now on offering any more jobs plans, or are you going to kind of lay back and let things take hold and see where it goes?

MR. BURTON: Well, unless the jobs report comes back and says that we’ve created 8.5 million jobs in this last month, the President is going to treat this jobs report the same way he’s created all the — he’s treated all the rest of them, which is to say that we’ve got a lot more work to do.

And there’s analysts across the spectrum who have different views of what the jobs report is going to say, and I know there’s different factors that will play into this specific one. Last month there was the huge snowstorm, and this month we might see some of the reverse effects of that. I’ve seen reports that the Census Bureau has hired thousands of folks. So there’s a lot of different factors that we’ll see in this jobs report.

But the President is committed to putting the American people back to work and keeping this economy on track. And the jobs report that comes out on Friday is just going to be one set of data, but it’s not necessarily going to mean the President is going to change course when it comes to doing everything that he can to move through some of the ideas that he’s put forth on helping small businesses, helping big businesses, helping everybody who’s hiring that he can to create an environment where people can create jobs.

Q So you’re leaving the door open for another jobs creation package at some point, if needed?

MR. BURTON: Well, keep in mind that some of the things that the President has talked about even as recently as December have not come to a vote, haven’t been passed, and so some of his jobs ideas are still out there, including some of the things to — since this is energy day — but to make homes more efficient and give people credits to retrofit their own houses and that sort of thing. So the President is still very much focused on creating jobs.

Q One just minor housekeeping question. Will the First Family’s tax returns be released either Friday or over the weekend?

MR. BURTON: I don’t know the timing on that, but they’re generally released and they’ll be out sooner than you think. I don’t have a date for you.

Lester.

Q Thank you very much. And thank you for your very crisp answers. Does the President believe that the Holy Father has been fairly treated by The New York Times and The Washington Post?

MR. BURTON: That’s not something I’ve spoken to him about. I’ll see what I can find out.

Q You will? Good. (Laughter.) Why does the President believe that it is fair to bar all private-school children from the Easter Egg Roll, including scholarship students at Sidwell Friends?

MR. BURTON: I’m not familiar with the Easter Egg Roll policy, but I would direct you to —

Q But it’s been announced. You must be aware of the announcement.

MR. BURTON: Like I said, I’m not fully familiar with the Easter Egg Roll policy. I appreciate the question. But you should direct it to the East —

Q You’ll get me an answer then?

MR. BURTON: No, I would direct you to the East Wing where they know a little more about it.

April.

Q Yes, today is March 31st, the deadline for the Black Farmers $1.25 [billion] congressional approval for its settlement. Robert was supposed to come back with information about if the President supported an extension — because we understand that CBC members as well as the Black Farmers were looking for an extension. Do you have any information about the President supports an extension to this deadline after 15 years of their wait?

MR. BURTON: I checked in with Leg Affairs after you asked that question yesterday, and they told me that they are in fact working with Congress with some urgency to get this done as fast as possible. I don’t have any specific timing for you, but this is something that they’re working to make progress on to make sure that we get this done.

Q So it’s not going to happen today, but you mean that they could possibly use the extension — I mean, because today is the deadline and they’re not there —

MR. BURTON: Well, not knowing the particulars of the specific settlement, I’m letting you know that the legislative team is working to get this done as fast as possible.

Q Well, let me ask you this as well — since they have been waiting for 15 years in this Pickford case, the Black Farmers want to know if they can meet with the President, especially after he announced it in his 2011 budget and put out a paper saying he strongly supports it. And they wanted to know if they could sit down and talk to the President to push more so this administration to make it happen, since they’ve waited 15 years.

MR. BURTON: I don’t know if there’s a meeting in the works. I can certainly check on it, but I don’t know if that’s in the works.

Q Is this administration open to meeting with them at least?

MR. BURTON: I haven’t spoken to anybody on that, so I don’t know.

Bill.

Q Bill, you said a couple times already today that the President’s policy is to drill where it’s responsible. So far I’ve only heard about Virginia. Can you give us an idea of other places where the administration believes it’s responsible to drill?

MR. BURTON: Well, some of the other areas that were talked about in the reports today are up on the northern coast of Alaska, down in the Gulf region — areas like that.

Q Are there any plans for drilling off the coast of California?

MR. BURTON: That is not a part of this.

Q Out of consideration?

MR. BURTON: I can’t speak to the entire rest of this administration, but I can tell you that it’s not a part of the President’s energy plan.

Q I’m sorry if this has already been mentioned, but to what extent was this discussed with Democratic leaders on the Hill before it was rolled out today?

MR. BURTON: We speak with Democratic leaders on the Hill every day and —

Q They were well aware this was coming? I mean, have you taken the temperature of Democrats on the Hill?

MR. BURTON: I assume that that has happened. We talk to Democratic leaders every day. It wasn’t a secret that our energy policy was coming out. Folks got a heads-up that it was happening. And obviously the President has a very close relationship with Speaker Pelosi and Harry Reid and it’s, of course, one of the things that they do talk about from time to time.

Ann.

Q On the West Coast of Florida, when you’re talking about the eastern part of the Gulf of Mexico — he says that he would — if the ban were to be lifted, he’d like to see more exploration there. Will the President ask Congress to lift the ban?

MR. BURTON: Well, everyplace has specific regulations that they have to deal with in order to move leases, to actually put in the rigs. There’s the exploratory phase that they have to go through. So — what’s your specific question about the Eastern Gulf?

Q The statement you all put out says that in the Eastern Gulf, which remains under a congressional moratorium — right? But if it were to be lifted, he thinks there should be more drilling closer to the western coast of Florida.

MR. BURTON: Well, I don’t want to get into water that’s too deep for me when we’re talking about the Gulf of Mexico. (Laughter.) But I would encourage you to ask the folks at Interior.

Q Bill, how about — for years, some of the arguments that opponents of drilling used is that, first of all, as the President said when he was a candidate, it doesn’t come up with a single gallon of gas in the short term, it’s way long off; and, number two, that the — well, answer just that part. When he pounded the lectern back in 2008 and said, I won’t do it because it won’t come up with anything immediate — what flipped him on that?

MR. BURTON: Well, the President’s view — and I was saying this earlier — is that this is not a silver bullet to the answer to the energy question that we have.

Q But what changed?

MR. BURTON: But it’s one part. It’s one part. And this is something that he has said over the course of the campaign. So people who voted for him, people who covered him, people who were watching this election knew that if you pulled the lever for Barack Obama in November of 2008, what you were going to get was a President who, as part of a comprehensive energy strategy, was going to support some drilling where it made sense, was going to promote efficiency, was going to invest in renewables. But he was going to take a comprehensive view, and not just take the short view that drilling was the answer to all of our answers.

Q And the other aspect of that is the complaint against it was that the drilling — there are a lot of leases out there sitting there untouched for years. How many leases, and what kind of exploration could go forward that the private companies just aren’t doing?

MR. BURTON: I actually, Ann, have to say, regret this — I have the specific numbers for you. They’re sitting upstairs on my desk.

Q Well, I’ll be up to see you. (Laughter.)

MR. BURTON: But I will make sure that I get you those numbers — and anybody else who is interested in them.

Glen.

Q Bill, in the run-up to Copenhagen, the administration took its share of criticism from conservative groups who said that you were sort of in the pocket of the environmental community. What do you think this says about the President’s attitude towards environmentalists and his willingness to stand up for them even if they don’t agree with him?

MR. BURTON: Well, I — Glen, I was saying this earlier, but I just — I don’t see it in that political lens necessarily. If the President had done something today that he hadn’t promised that he was going to do, that we hadn’t telegraphed from the campaign through the State of the Union of this year, through all the different things that we’ve said about energy, then I would say that maybe we could have a conversation about what this means for standing up to whomever. But this is something the President said he was going to do, and I think that for the most part, people oughtn’t feel surprised about it.

Q Just to follow up on what Sam was asking about the contact with the Hill. If you sort of look at this map, it is — it appears to be carefully crafted and tailored. You have some drilling on the north short of Alaska; you have more restrictions on the south. You also have the drilling off the coast of Virginia. To what extent did you discuss the creation of this map with Senator Warner in Virginia, Senator Landrieu in Louisiana? Was there a back-and-forth prior to this?

MR. BURTON: On the actual process for figuring out the places where it made most sense to explore new places to drill I would direct you to the Department of Interior.

Peter.

Q Can I ask about — yesterday in the President’s statement on Iran with President Sarkozy, he says weeks, not months, on a sanction resolution. Can you give us any more understanding of why he’s saying that, or what makes him think he can get it on that time frame? What’s happening in terms of the discussions about — with the Chinese at this point or —

MR. BURTON: Well, for starters, as the President expressed yesterday, there’s a real sense of urgency as it relates to working to apply pressure to Iran. And there are some very intense conversations happening at the United Nations right now that we’re able to make some real progress on. And the President feels like we have more support in the international community for sanctions than we’ve ever had before and he feels very confident that this spring we will be able to move forward with an agreement of those nations.

Q How important is it to get a sanctions resolution, even if it doesn’t include everything that he originally might have wanted it to have?

MR. BURTON: Well, the President obviously — the United States is not the only country who is dealing with this issue. And so we have to work with some of our foreign partners to apply as much pressure as we can.

You brought up the Chinese. The Chinese know that it’s not in their interest to have a nuclear arms race in the Middle East, and we’re confident that we’re going to be able to work with them to move forward on meaningful pressure on Iran.

So I would say that the President takes the long view. He wants to apply as much pressure as we can, and he’s confident we’re going to be able to do that.

Q Thanks, Bill. As you know, gas prices have been on the rise over the past few months. I’ve seen $4 a gallon here in Washington, D.C. To what extent does the White House believe that the proposal the President announced today will bring down the cost of gasoline for motorists across the country?

MR. BURTON: I don’t know about the immediate impact because of course all these different things that we’re doing have to go through different phases, right? You’ve got some places where you can start drilling a lot more soon than in other places. And so the length of time that it takes for the oil to get out of the ground and into the supply is going to take a little while.

So I don’t know that — I’m not a speculator, so I don’t know exactly what’s going to happen on the price of a barrel of oil today. But I can tell you that over the long term this is going to save the American people money, it’s going to decrease our dependence on foreign oil, and it’s going to allow them to know that our energy future is secure.

Q So long term then — you say you don’t know about the immediate impact it may have — long term, you think that the price of gasoline for motorists across the country will come down as a result of the proposal the President announced today?

MR. BURTON: I think that as a result of the proposal the President announced today, our country will have a lot more energy security and a lot less dependence on foreign oil. But in terms of the ups and downs of the market, I’m not going to get into that.

Q Did that enter into the calculus of the White House in making this decision, that perhaps this would bring down the cost of gasoline for motorists?

MR. BURTON: Well, obviously as we get into the summer, gas prices go up. And at a time when the economy is not doing very well, that can have a real pinch on families who are unemployed, or families who are underemployed, or families who are feeling the pinch from all sorts of different aspects of the economy — rising tuition costs, rising utility costs, and things like that.
And so the President does want to do things that make energy more affordable for the American people. But I would say that this comprehensive approach is the best way to do that for the long term for — as it relates to energy and as it relates to our economy.

Thank you.

END
1:08 P.M. EDT

White House.gov Press Office Feed

03.31.10 08:45 AM

MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR

SUBJECT: Withdrawal of Certain Areas of the United States Outer Continental Shelf from Leasing Disposition

Under the authority granted to me in section 12(a) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, 43 U.S.C. 1341(a), I hereby withdraw from disposition by leasing through June 30, 2017, the Bristol Bay area of the North Aleutian Basin in Alaska. This withdrawal prevents consideration of Bristol Bay for leasing for any oil or gas development in the Outer Continental Shelf, whether for exploratory or production purposes.

Nothing in this withdrawal affects the rights under existing leases in this area.

BARACK OBAMA

White House.gov Press Office Feed

03.31.10 08:36 AM

11:18 A.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, everybody. Thank you so much. (Applause.) Please have a seat. I’ve got a few introductions that I want to make very quickly before I start my remarks. First of all, I think that by the end of his tenure we’re going to know that Ken Salazar is one of the finest Secretaries of Interior we’ve ever had. So please give him a big round of applause. (Applause.)

Other members of what we call our green team are here: Steven Chu, our Secretary of Energy; Martha Johnson, the Administrator of the GSA; Nancy Sutley, the CEQ Chair. We’ve got Carol Browner, who’s the White House Energy and Climate Change Director. Please give them a big round of applause. They put in a lot of work. (Applause.)

Governor Martin O’Malley is here, governor of Maryland. (Applause.) Ray Mabus, Secretary of the Navy, is here. (Applause.) Admiral Gary Roughead, Chief of Naval Operations, is here, and we appreciate his outstanding service. Thank you, Gar. (Applause.)

I want to thank Steven Shepro, the base commander here at Andrews, and the leadership that’s present from the Air Force, the Marine Corps, and the Coast Guard.

Ken and I were colleagues in the Senate, and I appointed him because I knew that he would be a faithful and pragmatic steward of our natural resources. And as Secretary, he is changing the way that the Interior Department does business so that we’re responsibly developing traditional sources of energy and renewable sources of energy, from the wind on the high plains to the suns in the desert to the waves off our coasts. And so I’m very grateful to the work that he’s done in culminating in one of the announcements that we’re making today.

It’s also good to see so many members of our Armed Forces here today. Andrews is the home of Air Force One, and I appreciate everything that you do for me and my family. I should point out that you’ve got a 100-percent on-time departure record. (Laughter.) You don’t charge for luggage — (laughter) — so it’s a pretty good deal. And I want to thank you not only for the support that you provide me, but also for the service that you perform to keep our country safe each and every day. So I’m very grateful to all of you.

We’re here to talk about America’s energy security, an issue that’s been a priority for my administration since the day I took office. Already, we’ve made the largest investment in clean energy in our nation’s history. It’s an investment that’s expected to create or save more than 700,000 jobs across America — jobs manufacturing advanced batteries for more efficient vehicles; upgrading the power grid so that it’s smarter and it’s stronger; doubling our nation’s capacity to generate renewable electricity from sources like the wind and the sun.

And just a few months after taking office, I also gathered the leaders of the world’s largest automakers, the heads of labor unions, environmental advocates, and public officials from California and across the country to reach a historic agreement to raise fuel economy standards in cars and trucks. And tomorrow, after decades in which we have done little to increase auto efficiency, those new standards will be finalized, which will reduce our dependence on oil while helping folks spend a little less at the pump.

So my administration is upholding its end of the deal, and we expect all parties to do the same. And I’d also point out this rule that we’re going to be announcing about increased mileage standards will save 1.8 billion — billion barrels of oil overall — 1.8 billion barrels of oil. And that’s like taking 58 million cars off the road for an entire year.

Today, we’re also going to go one step further. In order to save energy and taxpayer dollars, my administration — led by Secretary Chu at Energy, as well as Administrator Johnson at GSA — is doubling the number of hybrid vehicles in the federal fleet, even as we seek to reduce the number of cars and trucks used by our government overall. So we’re going to lead by example and practice what we preach: cutting waste, saving energy, and reducing our reliance on foreign oil.

But we have to do more. We need to make continued investments in clean coal technologies and advanced biofuels. A few weeks ago, I announced loan guarantees to break ground on America’s first new nuclear facility in three decades, a project that will create thousands of jobs. And in the short term, as we transition to cleaner energy sources, we’ve still got to make some tough decisions about opening new offshore areas for oil and gas development in ways that protect communities and protect coastlines.

This is not a decision that I’ve made lightly. It’s one that Ken and I — as well as Carol Browner, my energy advisor, and others in my administration — looked at closely for more than a year. But the bottom line is this: Given our energy needs, in order to sustain economic growth and produce jobs, and keep our businesses competitive, we are going to need to harness traditional sources of fuel even as we ramp up production of new sources of renewable, homegrown energy.

So today we’re announcing the expansion of offshore oil and gas exploration, but in ways that balance the need to harness domestic energy resources and the need to protect America’s natural resources. Under the leadership of Secretary Salazar, we’ll employ new technologies that reduce the impact of oil exploration. We’ll protect areas that are vital to tourism, the environment, and our national security. And we’ll be guided not by political ideology, but by scientific evidence.

That’s why my administration will consider potential areas for development in the mid and south Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico, while studying and protecting sensitive areas in the Arctic. That’s why we’ll continue to support development of leased areas off the North Slope of Alaska, while protecting Alaska’s Bristol Bay.

There will be those who strongly disagree with this decision, including those who say we should not open any new areas to drilling. But what I want to emphasize is that this announcement is part of a broader strategy that will move us from an economy that runs on fossil fuels and foreign oil to one that relies more on homegrown fuels and clean energy. And the only way this transition will succeed is if it strengthens our economy in the short term and the long run. To fail to recognize this reality would be a mistake.

On the other side, there are going to be some who argue that we don’t go nearly far enough; who suggest we should open all our waters to energy exploration without any restriction or regard for the broader environmental and economic impact. And to those folks I’ve got to say this: We have less than 2 percent of the world’s oil reserves; we consume more than 20 percent of the world’s oil. And what that means is that drilling alone can’t come close to meeting our long-term energy needs. And for the sake of our planet and our energy independence, we need to begin the transition to cleaner fuels now.

So the answer is not drilling everywhere all the time. But the answer is not, also, for us to ignore the fact that we are going to need vital energy sources to maintain our economic growth and our security. Ultimately, we need to move beyond the tired debates of the left and the right, between business leaders and environmentalists, between those who would claim drilling is a cure all and those who would claim it has no place. Because this issue is just too important to allow our progress to languish while we fight the same old battles over and over again.

For decades we’ve talked about how our dependence on foreign oil threatens our economy -– yet our will to act rises and falls with the price of a barrel of oil. When gas gets expensive at the pump, suddenly everybody is an energy expert. And when it goes back down, everybody is back to their old habits.

For decades we’ve talked about the threat to future generations posed by our current system of energy –- even as we can see the mounting evidence of climate change from the Arctic Circle to the Gulf Coast. And this is particularly relevant to all of you who are serving in uniform: For decades, we’ve talked about the risks to our security created by dependence on foreign oil, but that dependence has actually grown year after year after year after year.

And while our politics has remained entrenched along these worn divides, the ground has shifted beneath our feet. Around the world, countries are seeking an edge in the global marketplace by investing in new ways of producing and saving energy. From China to Germany, these nations recognize that the nation that leads the clean energy economy will be the country that leads the global economy. And meanwhile, here at home, as politicians in Washington debate endlessly about whether to act, our own military has determined that we can no longer afford not to.

Some of the press may be wondering why we are announcing offshore drilling in a hangar at Andrews Air Force Base. Well, if there’s any doubt about the leadership that our military is showing, you just need to look at this F-18 fighter and the light-armored vehicle behind me. The Army and Marine Corps have been testing this vehicle on a mixture of biofuels. And this Navy fighter jet — appropriately called the Green Hornet — will be flown for the first time in just a few days, on Earth Day. If tests go as planned, it will be the first plane ever to fly faster than the speed of sound on a fuel mix that is half biomass. The Air Force is also testing jet engines using biofuels and had the first successful biofuel-powered test flight just last week. I don’t want to drum up any kind of rivalry here, but — (laughter.)

Now, the Pentagon isn’t seeking these alternative fuels just to protect our environment; they’re pursuing these homegrown energy sources to protect our national security. Our military leaders recognize the security imperative of increasing the use of alternative fuels, decreasing energy use, reducing our reliance on imported oil, making ourselves more energy-efficient. That’s why the Navy, led by Secretary Mabus, who’s here today, has set a goal of using 50-percent alternative fuels in all planes, vehicles, and ships in the next 10 years. That’s why the Defense Department has invested $2.7 billion this year alone to improve energy efficiency.

So moving towards clean energy is about our security. It’s also about our economy. And it’s about the future of our planet. And what I hope is, is the policies that we’ve laid out — from hybrid fleets to offshore drilling, from nuclear energy to wind energy — underscores the seriousness with which my administration takes this challenge. It’s a challenge that requires us to break out of the old ways of thinking, to think and act anew. And it requires each of us, regardless of whether we’re in the private sector or the public sector, whether we’re in the military or in the civilian side of government, to think about how could we be doing things better, how could we be doing things smarter — so that we are no longer tethered to the whims of what happens somewhere in the Middle East or with other major oil-producing nations.

So I’m open to proposals from my Democratic friends and my Republican friends. I think that we can break out of the broken politics of the past when it comes to our energy policy. I know that we can come together to pass comprehensive energy and climate legislation that’s going to foster new energy — new industries, create millions of new jobs, protect our planet, and help us become more energy independent. That’s what we can do. That is what we must do. And I’m confident that is what we will do.

So thank you very much. And thanks, again, to all of you who are serving in our Armed Services. You are making an enormous contribution, and this is just one example of the leadership that you’re showing.

Thank you very much. (Applause.)

END
11:33 A.M. EDT

White House.gov Press Office Feed

03.31.10 07:38 AM

Decisions expand domestic production, promote efficiency

Washington D.C. — As part of the Administration’s comprehensive energy strategy President Barack Obama and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today announced more details of the Obama Administration’s efforts to strengthen our energy security. President Obama and Secretary Salazar announced that the Administration will expand oil and gas development and exploration on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) to enhance our nation’s energy independence while protecting fisheries, tourism, and places off U.S. coasts that are not appropriate for development. Also included in the announcement are landmark car and truck fuel standards, key efforts being carried out by the Department of Defense to enhance energy security, and an effort to green the federal vehicle fleet. Details are below.

“I want to emphasize that this announcement is part of a broader strategy that will move us from an economy that runs on fossil fuels and foreign oil to one that relies on homegrown fuels and clean energy. And the only way this transition will succeed is if it strengthens our economy in the short term and the long term. To fail to recognize this reality would be a mistake,” said President Obama.

Over the last year, under the leadership of Secretary Salazar, the Administration has worked to reevaluate previous decisions in an effort to set oil and gas drilling policies on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) that will help reduce our dependence on foreign oil, create jobs, and take environmental risks and responsibilities into account.

“By responsibly expanding conventional energy development and exploration here at home we can strengthen our energy security, create jobs, and help rebuild our economy,” said Salazar. “Our strategy calls for developing new areas offshore, exploring frontier areas, and protecting places that are too special to drill. By providing order and certainty to offshore exploration and development and ensuring we are drilling in the right ways and the right places, we are opening a new chapter for balanced and responsible oil and gas development here at home.”

The President will highlight today additional key measures that will boost domestic energy production, diversify America’s energy portfolio and promote clean energy innovation.

Background on Today’s Announcements:
More Domestic Production – Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing: The Administration’s strategy calls for developing oil and gas resources in new areas, such as the Eastern Gulf of Mexico; increasing oil and gas exploration in frontier areas, such as parts of the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans; and protecting ocean areas that are simply too special to drill, such as Alaska’s Bristol Bay. The strategy will guide the current 2007-2012 offshore oil and gas leasing program, as well as the new 2012-2017 program that this administration will propose. More specific details on this plan are available at www.doi.gov.

Landmark Car and Truck Fuel Standards – Finalized EPA/DOT CAFE and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards: On April 1st, EPA and DOT will sign a joint final rule establishing greenhouse gas emission standards and corporate average fuel economy standards for light-duty vehicles for model years 2012-2016. Announced last May, the rule is a product of a historic deal between the Obama Administration, the State of California, and automakers to bring regulatory certainty to the automotive market while increasing fuel efficiency, reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector, and ensuring consumer choice and savings. This measure is expected to save 1.8 billion barrels of oil over the life of the program.

Leading by Example – Greening the Federal Fleet: Last year, President Obama issued Executive Order 13514 asking Federal agencies to lead by example towards a clean energy economy. GSA and DOE are doing just that. As a result of their combined efforts we have doubled the Federal hybrid vehicle fleet and before the end of the year we’ll purchase the first 100 plug-in electric vehicles to roll off American assembly lines. Additionally, agencies are: Purchasing hybrid instead of conventional cars and trucks that use more fuel; Downsizing vehicle fleets overall; and requiring plug-in electric charging stations for all new facilities and for major retrofits.

Department of Defense Energy Security Strategic Emphasis: The recently released Quadrennial Defense Review makes clear that crafting a strategic approach to energy and climate change is a high priority for the Department of Defense (DoD). This reflects mission considerations above all. The Department’s own analysis confirms what outside experts have long warned: our military’s heavy reliance on fossil fuels creates significant risks and costs at a tactical as well as a strategic level. The DoD is actively pursuing strategic initiatives to enhance energy security and independence and reduce harmful emissions, including encouraging the development and use of domestically produced advanced biofuels. You can learn more about DoD’s energy initiatives here.

White House.gov Press Office Feed

03.30.10 07:19 PM

The President today declared an emergency exists in the State of Rhode Island and ordered Federal aid to supplement State and local response efforts in the area struck by severe storms and flooding beginning on March 12, 2010, and continuing.

The President’s action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in the counties of Bristol, Kent, Newport, Providence, and Washington.

Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency. Emergency protective measures, limited to direct Federal assistance, will be provided at 75 percent Federal funding.

W. Craig Fugate, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named Craig A. Gilbert as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in the affected area.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: FEMA (202) 646-3272.

White House.gov Press Office Feed

03.31.10 05:50 AM

The President today declared a major disaster exists in the State of Delaware and ordered Federal aid to supplement State and local recovery efforts in the area struck by severe winter storms and snowstorms during the period of February 5-11, 2010.

Federal funding is available to State and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by the severe winter storms and snowstorms in Kent, New Castle, and Sussex Counties.

In addition, assistance is available to State and eligible local governments on a cost-sharing basis for emergency protective measures, including snow assistance, for a continuous 48-hour period during or proximate to the incident period.

Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide.

W. Craig Fugate, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named Regis Leo Phelan as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in the affected area.

FEMA said additional designations may be made at a later date if requested by the State and warranted by the results of further damage assessments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: FEMA (202) 646-3272.

White House.gov Press Office Feed

03.30.10 02:17 PM

4:56 P.M. EDT

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Please, everybody have a seat. Good afternoon. Bienvenue.

I am delighted to welcome my dear friend, President Sarkozy, to the White House. And I also want to welcome to the United States the First Lady of France, and Michelle and I are very much looking forward to hosting our guests at dinner this evening.

Now, I have to point out that the French are properly famous for their cuisine, and so the fact that Nicolas went to Ben’s Chili Bowl for lunch — (laughter) — I think knows — shows his discriminating palate. My understanding is he had a half-smoke, so he was sampling the local wares. And we appreciate that very much.

This visit is an opportunity to return the hospitality that the President and the French people have shown to me during my visits to France. And that includes our family’s wonderful visit to Paris last summer. Michelle and I will never forget the opportunity to introduce our daughters for the first time to the City of Lights. And I don’t think that Sasha will ever forget celebrating her 8th birthday at the Élysée Palace with the President of France. That’s a pretty fancy way for an 8-year-old to spend their birthday.

Today, President Sarkozy and I have reaffirmed the enduring ties between our countries. France is our oldest ally, and one of our closest. We are two great republics —- bound by common ideals —- that have stood together for more than two centuries, from Yorktown to Normandy to Afghanistan.

Under President Sarkozy’s leadership, France has further secured its rightful place as a leader in Europe and around the world, recognizing that meeting global challenges requires global partnerships. France took the historic step of returning to NATO’s military command, and we are working to revitalize our transatlantic bonds, including a strong, capable European Union, which the United States firmly supports — because a close transatlantic partnership is critical to progress, whether it’s applying our combined strength to promote development and confront violent extremism in Africa, or reconstruction in Haiti, or advancing peace from the Caucasus to the Middle East.

Mr. President, on behalf of the American people, I also want to thank you for your personal efforts to strengthen the partnership between our countries. We first met four years ago. I was a senator then; Nicolas was still running for President at the time, and I immediately came to admire your legendary energy —- and your enthusiasm for what our countries can achieve together. That was the spirit of your eloquent speech to Congress three years ago, which deeply moved many Americans.

Over the past year, the President and I have worked closely on numerous occasions. We respect one another and understand one another, and we share a belief that through bold yet pragmatic action, our generation can bend the arc of history toward justice and towards progress. And this shared commitment to solving problems allowed us to advance our common interests today.

We agreed to continue working aggressively to sustain the global economic recovery and create jobs for our people. And this includes, as we agreed with our G20 partners at Pittsburgh, to replacing the old cycle of bubble and bust with growth that is balanced and sustained. And this requires effective coordination by all nations. To that end, I updated the President on our efforts to pass financial reform, and I look forward to the Senate taking action on this landmark legislation so we never repeat the mistakes that led to this crisis.

We must provide sufficient oversight so that reckless speculation or reckless risk-taking by a few big players in the financial markets will never again threaten the global economy or burden taxpayers. We must assure that consumers of financial products have the information and safeguards that they need, so their life savings are not placed in needless jeopardy. And that’s why I press for the passage of these reforms through Congress when they return, and I will continue to work with President Sarkozy and other world leaders to coordinate our efforts, because we want to make sure that whatever steps we’re taking, they are occurring on both sides of the Atlantic.

We agreed that sustained and balanced growth includes rejecting protectionism. France is one of our largest trading partners. And we need to expand global commerce, not constrain it. With that regard, we think it’s important that Doha trade negotiations move forward this year, and we need all interested parties to push for a more ambitious and balanced agreement that opens global markets. And we look forward to France’s presidency of both the G8 and G20 next year. So Nicolas is going to be very busy.

To address climate change, we agreed that all nations aligned with the Copenhagen accord must meet their responsibilities. And I would note that President Sarkozy’s leadership has resulted in significant new resources to address deforestation around the world. Upcoming meetings at the United Nations and the Major Economies Forum will be an opportunity for nations to follow up their Copenhagen commitments with specific and concrete actions that reduce emissions.

We reaffirmed our commitment to confront the greatest threat to global security —- the spread of nuclear weapons. And I updated President Sarkozy on our new START treaty with Russia. I look forward to welcoming President Sarkozy back to Washington in two weeks for our summit on securing vulnerable nuclear material so that they never fall into the hands of terrorists.

We discussed our shared determination to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. On this the United States and France are united, are inseparable. With our P5-plus-1 partners, we offer Iran good faith proposals to resolve this matter through diplomacy. But Iran thus far has rejected those offers. Today, the international community is more united than ever on the need for Iran to uphold its obligations. And that’s why we’re pursuing strong sanctions through the U.N. Security Council.

And finally we discussed our efforts to advance security and peace around the world, including in the Middle East, where we agree that all sides need to act now to create the atmosphere that gives the proximity talks the best chance to succeed.

I shared my impressions from my discussions with President Karzai on the urgent need for good government and development in Afghanistan. As I told our troops, we salute our coalition partners, and that includes France, which is one of the largest contributors to the NATO mission, and which has given its most precious resource, the lives of its young men and women, to a mission that is vital to the security of both our countries’ and the world’s security.

So I thank President Sarkozy for his visit and for the progress that our countries have made today, in large part because of his extraordinary leadership. We are global partners facing global challenges together, and I think that Nicolas will agree that when it comes to America’s oldest ally, we’ve never been closer.

So I’ll simply close with words that one American leader expressed to another French partner more than 200 years ago, because Washington’s words to Rochambeau reflect the bonds between our countries today: We are “fellow laborers in the cause of liberty and we have lived together as brothers should do — in harmonious friendship.”

In that spirit, I welcome President Nicolas Sarkozy.

PRESIDENT SARKOZY: (As translated.) Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you for your invitation. I think that we can say — I stand to be corrected by Bernard Kouchner and Christine Lagarde — but I think we can say that rarely in the history of our two countries has the community of views been so identical between the United States of America and France.

To wit, one example, which is that France would not be stepping next year into the presidency of the G20 had the United States of America not supported France for this presidency. Now, there are the words, there are the statements, and then there are the facts, the acts, and that is a fact.

Now, I will not repeat what President Obama so eloquently said. On Afghanistan, we support President Obama’s strategy. We cannot afford to lose — not for us, not for ourselves, but for Afghanistan and for the people of Afghanistan, who are entitled to live in freedom. Of course the road is arduous. Of course nothing can be anticipated. And of course we are so sorrowful for the loss of young lives. But we have to have the courage to go to the end of our strategy and explain that there is no alternative strategy. Defeat would be too high a price for the security of Americans, the French, and Europeans. By fighting in Afghanistan, what we are fighting for is world security, quite simply.

Now, on Iran, I am very satisfied with what President Obama has said. The time has come to take decisions. Iran cannot continue its mad race. Now, we don’t want to punish Iran, which deserves better than what it has by way of leadership today, and therefore fully support in order to get stronger, tougher sanctions at the Security Council and take the necessary decisions is what you have. I have said to President Obama that with Angela Merkel and Gordon Brown we will make all necessary efforts to ensure that Europe as a whole engages in the sanction regime.

On the Middle East, it’s excellent news to hear that the United States are thus engaged. Of course peace in the Middle East is the — is something which concerns primarily the Israelis and the Palestinians. However, the absence of peace in the Middle East is a problem for all of us, because what it does is keep feeding terrorism all over the world. And I wish to express my solidarity vis-à-vis President Obama in condemning the settlement process. Everybody knows how engaged and committed I am vis-à-vis Israel’s security, but the settlement process achieves nothing and contributes in no way to Israel’s safety and security. There comes a time when you have to take initiatives in favor of peace.

Now, on financial regulation, again, it’s great news for the world to hear that the United States is availing itself of rules, adopting rules so that we not go back to what we have already experienced. And during the French presidency of the G20, Tim Geithner, Christine Lagarde are going to be working hand-in-glove in order to go even further in regulating world capitalism, and in particular, raising the issue of a new world international monetary order.

On all these subjects there’s much convergence of views. And of course I want to say to President Obama how glad we were for him and for the USA to hear of the successful passing of the health care reform.

And insofar as the President has revealed a secret — namely, where I had lunch today — I should say that I have a good friend in Washington who had actually recommended that restaurant. When I walked in I saw a huge photograph of President Obama. And I’m afraid that when you go back to that restaurant you may see a smaller photograph of the French President. (Laughter.)

PRESIDENT OBAMA: We’ve got time for a couple of questions. I’m going to call on Ben Feller. There you are, Ben — AP.

Q Thank you, sir. Thank you for your patience. President Obama, you’ve talked about the importance of having consequences for Iran over its nuclear program, but is there ever a real deadline? What is your specific timeline for U.N. sanctions on Iran? And is it one that the American people can believe in?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well —

Q I’m sorry, sir, I just wanted to ask President Sarkozy, you said yesterday in New York that the world needs an open America, an America that listens. I’m wondering if you can elaborate; specifically if you think President Obama is open to the world and is listening to you.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, let me answer the second question, even though that was to Nicolas. I listen to Nicolas all the time. I can’t stop listening to him. (Laughter.)

On Iran, we came in with a very clear approach and a very clear strategy, and it was an open book to the world. We said we would engage Iran and give them an opportunity to take the right path, a path that would lead to prosperity and opportunity for their people and a peaceful region, and one in which they would allow themselves to become a full-fledged member of the community of nations. The alternative path was further isolation and further consequences.

We mobilized the international community around this approach, including partners like Russia that in the past might have been more hesitant to take a firmer stance on Iran’s nuclear program. What we said, though, was that there was going to be a time limit to it and that if we had not seen progress by the end of the year, it was time for us to move forward on that sanctions track.

My hope is that we are going to get this done this spring. So I’m not interested in waiting months for a sanctions regime to be in place; I’m interested in seeing that regime in place in weeks. And we are working diligently with our international partners, emphasizing to them that, as Nicolas said, this is not simply an issue of trying to isolate Iran; it has enormous implications for the safety and the security of the entire region. We don’t want to see a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.

A conflict in the Middle East as a consequence of Iran’s actions could have a huge destabilizing effect in terms of the world economy at a time when it’s just coming out of a very deep recession.

The long-term consequences of a nuclear-armed Iran are unacceptable. And so Nicolas, myself and others agree that we have engaged; the door remains open if the Iranians choose to walk through it. But they understand very clearly what the terms of a diplomatic solution would be. And in the interim we are going to move forcefully on a U.N. sanctions regime.

Now, do we have unanimity in the international community? Not yet. And that’s something that we have to work on. We think that we are in a much stronger position to get robust sanctions now than we were a year ago prior to us initiating our strategy.

But it’s still difficult, partly because, let’s be honest, Iran is a oil producer and there are a lot of countries around the world that, regardless of Iran’s offenses, are thinking that their commercial interests are more important to them than these long-term geopolitical interests. And so we have to continue to apply pressure not just on Iran but we have to make sure that we are communicating very clearly that this is very important to the United States.

Q You can get unanimity within weeks?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: We think that we can get sanctions within weeks.

PRESIDENT SARKOZY: Well, I’ve read many comments — and I must say I’ve been quite amused — on the relations between European leaders and the President of the United States. I say I’m amused because I’ve thought to myself, well, when we speak to one another, people must be listening to our phone calls because I have seen reports on conversations and discussions which in no way resemble anything that has ever taken place between Barack Obama and myself.

Now, why is it easy for us to work? And I speak on behalf of Chancellor Merkel, Gordon Brown, and other leaders. Well, because President Obama, when he says something, keeps his word. His word is his bond. And that is so important. There’s a joke among us — we don’t like surprises. Well, from my point of view, there’s no surprises. When he can, he delivers. When he can’t, he says so. So there are no surprises. And we try to be likewise.

Furthermore, secondly, on all topics — and there have been some pretty tough topics. I mean, for instance, bonus — taxes on bonuses, regulation, financial regulations — pretty heavy going stuff — Copenhagen. I mean, I happen to think that President Obama is a step ahead of public opinion in the United States on this. But we’re constantly talking about it. It’s even President Obama who wanted us to have a call conference, a videoconference virtually every month with Angela Merkel and Gordon Brown.

Now, this doesn’t really mean that we absolutely agree neck and neck on everything, but we talk amongst ourselves. And this is a novelty from the point of view of Europe whenever we look at the United States that everything is put on the table, anything can be discussed, everything can be discussed.

What matters, you see, is not whether we agree once systematically before we’ve even started discussing — that’s suspicious — it’s to say whatever divergence of views we have, we can talk about it among ourselves. And I say things very frankly to you, and this is what all we European leaders believe and think.

I’ve also heard it said that Europe was less interested in the United States. Well, for heaven’s sake, how many times do we have to come over to show that we are interested? What would it mean if we were interested?

So, very frankly and very honestly on this, not only is it not an issue, not a problem, but it’s great to be able to work under such conditions. I would say that what I have to say about President Obama is the same as what Bernard Kouchner could say about Hillary Clinton, or Christine Lagarde about Tim Geithner. We’re constantly having a dialogue.

I could even take you — give you an example of something on which we don’t necessarily agree, such as Syria — or we didn’t agree. France took an initiative, as you know. Well, I’ll say this to you: At no point, no point, has President Obama turned his back on what we were doing. Constantly he’s watching, he’s listening. We’re constantly exchanging information on the subject. Even when there are more complex topics, including in our relations with the Russians, before even we inform our Russian — the Russians or our partners, I pick up the phone, I call President Obama, and he knows exactly what we’re going to do and why we’re going to do it. You follow me on that?

So, there may be disagreements, but never for the wrong reasons. And as we are very transparent on both sides, there’s confidence, there’s trust. And I really think I can say that. There’s a lot of trust.

Now, trust always helps one overcome perhaps diverging interests. It may be that the United States of America has slightly different interests of those of France, but the bedrock of trust between us is something that he also has with all European leaders. And I don’t say this to please you. I said this is true. And I took two examples of two topics that could, in other tide, other times, have led to head-on collision, and which in this case, on the contrary, are looked at on both sides of the Atlantic as a situation where we are complementary.

Perhaps he said, well, maybe on Syria, France is on the right track, and maybe one day we’ll have the opportunity to do likewise, and that’s exactly the way we work.

Go ahead, I’m not the one with the mic.

Q (As translated.) Since you’ve just talked about the United — the relations between Europe and United States, didn’t you get a bad surprise, a nasty surprise, on the Pentagon’s decision on the tanker planes, which reversed the decision which had originally been taken in favor of Airbus? Did you raise this subject with President Obama? And if so, did you try and put together a new approach so as to ensure that the competition would be fairer, new version of this contract with the Pentagon, and don’t you think that it would be probably fair to share this contract with the Europeans, since they are now full members of NATO and that they share the price of the war on the ground?

PRESIDENT SARKOZY: If I said I hadn’t raised it, it would mean that what I’ve just told you would be meaningless and senseless. Of course we’ve talked about it — and President Obama will give you his answer. But I said to him, I trust you. And I do trust him. If you say to me that the request for proposals, the call for tenders will be free, fair and transparent, then we say EADS will bid and we trust you.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: What I said to President Sarkozy is, is that the process will be free and fair, and that the trust is justified.

Now, it’s important for my European friends to understand that, at least here, the Secretary of Defense makes procurement decisions. The President does not meddle in these decisions. And that’s a longstanding policy. So I maintain an arm’s length approach, but I have assurances from Secretary of Defense Gates that, in fact, the re-bidding process is going to be completely transparent, completely open, and a fair competition. That’s in our interests. It’s in the interest of American taxpayers, and it’s also in the interest of our young men and women who rely on this equipment in order to protect this nation.

And it’s important to note, I think, for those of you who don’t know Secretary Gates, this is somebody who has actually taken on the military and weapons systems establishment and initiated some very significant procurement reforms that nobody ever thought would happen here in Washington. So he’s somebody who’s willing to call it like it is and make difficult decisions, and he will do so in this situation as well.

Thank you very much, everybody.

END
5:18 P.M. EDT

White House.gov Press Office Feed

03.30.10 12:25 PM

2:18 P.M. EDT

Q Sarkozy get here early?

MR. GIBBS: Oooh, all right. Bonjour, Chuck. I was going to say, I don’t know —

Q I was going to ask a question in French.

MR. GIBBS: Well, he probably won’t give you an answer.

I have no announcements, so we can fire away.

Q That’s a segue to my question.

MR. GIBBS: What’s that?

Q The Sarkozy visit, the setup for it — the Rose Garden news conference, the dinner in the family quarters is being perceived as kind of the full treatment, the full royal treatment, for a better word, and kind of a makeup with the French President. Do you think that’s accurate?

MR. GIBBS: A makeup for?

Q There have been perceptions that there was a snub, that he didn’t get quite the treatment that he thought he should get in their prior visits together. So do you think that’s an accurate way to view it and —

MR. GIBBS: No. I mean, I can’t speak to the —

Q When you guys make decisions about how to treat leaders, what sort of — do they get the Oval Office pool spray? Do they get no cameras? Do they get Rose Garden? Do they get a dinner, not a dinner? Those are all decisions that are made so —

MR. GIBBS: I mean, I can’t really speak to what’s based on — what somebody bases prior logistics on. I think you’ll hear the President talk about the very important and close relationship that he has with President Sarkozy and that our country has with France on a whole host of important issues that they’ll go through today: the global economic recovery, climate change, financial reform, Afghanistan, the spread of nuclear weapons, our partnership in the P5-plus-1 in dealing with Iran — all of which are tremendously important to both nations, and both nations — I think there’s a very strong relationship between the two leaders.

I don’t — I’ve never heard anybody say, we’re going to do this because we did this last time.

Q So you’re not intending to send any kind of signal with this setup or the schedule of events?

MR. GIBBS: Well, again, obviously it’s an important ally. Obviously the work that the two Presidents have done together on the issues that I just mentioned is significant. There will be a bilateral meeting between the two; we’ll have the two give statements and each take a question; and then they’ll have a private dinner together. I think that is somewhat — I mean, it doesn’t seem totally out of the ordinary to me.

Q He’s getting more than Netanyahu.

Q More than most leaders, actually, who have been to the White House.

MR. GIBBS: I’ve got to say I’ve been puzzled by the notion that — Netanyahu spent more than two hours sitting with the President.

Q Couldn’t prove it by me. I didn’t see it.

MR. GIBBS: Well, you’ll just have to take our word for it, I guess, Bill.

Q Okay, well. (Laughter.)

MR. GIBBS: Back to the crossword puzzle.

Yes, ma’am.

Q Financial regulatory reform. Paul Volcker said today that regulatory reform will be completed this year. And there have also been some reports that the — about a push to get a bill to the President’s desk by the end of May. Is that kind of a timetable doable? And what kind of progress can you make without Republican support? And to get Republican support, what are you willing or prepared to give up?

MR. GIBBS: Well, let me — first and foremost, I don’t think that’s an unrealistic timetable at all. Obviously we’ve got a bill through the House, a bill through committee, unamended. Nobody on the Republican side even offered an amendment. So I think the next piece of business that the Senate will take up will be financial reform.

Q You mean late May is not unrealistic?

MR. GIBBS: I don’t think that’s unrealistic. I think without a doubt, the President would like to see, with his signature, strong rules in place, certainly prior to the two-year anniversary of the collapse in our economy.

So I think we’re on a pace to make those changes quite quickly. And I think it’s important as we move forward that we ensure, as I’ve said many times and as the President has said many times, that we don’t have the conditions in place that allow the same type of thing to happen now that happened two years ago.

In order to get Republican support, I think — the President is clear that we are not going to compromise on what we believe represents a very strong piece of legislation. Just last week Senator Corker and others said they thought Republicans would support this legislation.

The President is going to outline the plan that he believes best puts those rules of the road in place, ensures a strong independent consumer finance protection agency, provides the type of clarity and disclosure that the American people need to judge financial reform. So I think we’re on a path to do that.

Q And those are things that are not negotiable?

MR. GIBBS: Those are things that the President has spoken about for quite some time. They’re non-negotiable with the President; they’re non-negotiable with the American people.

Jake.

Q Secretary Clinton on Monday made a request to Prime Minister Harper to keep Canadian troops in Afghanistan, saying that they could be serving in another — in capacities beyond combat, if need be. And that was rejected today by Prime Minister Harper, saying that the Canadians are withdrawing their troops by 2011. I was wondering, A, if you guys have any response to that; and B, what that says either about the U.S. — the ability of the Obama administration to convince the Canadians that this is their fight, just as it is for all Western countries, or just the basic fact that the Canadians seem to reject that.

MR. GIBBS: Well, first of all, the fact that they were transitioning their troops out of Afghanistan has been known certainly by this administration and I think by most of the world for quite some time.

Q Right, but you guys have tried to convince them not to.

MR. GIBBS: Well, I think — we checked in with State on this. I think there seems to be, on their part — State believes there’s a little confusion here. The Secretary of State, first and foremost, wants the Canadians to continue, as you mentioned, to be involved. There are a host of civilian non-combat activities that Canadians can and we hope will contribute to — they’re a valuable partner in our coalition. I would also say that, understanding that this was — for quite some time that this was going to happen, we have seen a dramatic increase in NATO contributions that will make up for troops that — any troops that have to rotate out.

Q Okay. And then the other question had to do with the new nuclear disarmament treaty with Russia. You guys herald it now. The President pushed back strongly on the notion of there being any linkage with missile defense. The Russians are saying that there is language in this treaty that addresses missile defense, and that’s a big victory for them since it’s the first time it’s been acknowledged in a treaty. Whether or not there is — it’s actionable, it’s still in the treaty. How do you explain that discrepancy?

MR. GIBBS: Well, I would simply refer you to what Secretary Gates, Admiral Mullen, Secretary Clinton all had to say on this last week that there’s nothing that precludes what we’re doing in Europe as a part of this treaty.

Q Is this the Russians trying to save face?

MR. GIBBS: A better question for the Russians than for me.
Yes, sir.

Q In addition to all those things that you pointed out that the President would be discussing with Mr. Sarkozy, will he be pushing him to commit additional troops to the —

MR. GIBBS: No, there’s no ask on the table to do that, no.

Q He will not be asking?

MR. GIBBS: I anticipate that they will discuss progress that needs to be made in training the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police. And I’ve no doubt that they’ll talk about the contribution that France has already dedicated as the — I think the fourth largest coalition contributor. But there’s no specific ask on the table today from President Obama to President Sarkozy to increase that force.

Let me go to Dan, and I’ll come back.

Q On Hamid Karzai, do you feel that he is the right leader to get the job done — as the President said, the U.S. will get the job done there. Is he the right person to get the job done?

MR. GIBBS: Well, Dan, understand that he’s the elected leader of Afghanistan. We are — we will work with, and we will expect certain things to come from his leadership based on what we’re helping them do in setting up appropriate governance, as well as rooting out the Taliban and its extremist allies.

I think the President has been clear with President Karzai, quite frankly, going back quite some time. And I read out a call that the President made to President Karzai just after he was reelected, that the President was clear that we had — that it was up to them to take important steps on bettering their governance, understanding that in the inaugural he laid that out. In the conference in London, he laid out some positive things. We’ve seen some progress. But as the President said, that’s slow progress. And we understand this isn’t going to happen overnight.

You had a follow-up on France? And then I’ll come over there.

Q A follow-up on, actually, Jake and the question on the training — when you talk about noncombat mission, the Canadians in particular, do you include training the Afghani police forces —

MR. GIBBS: I don’t want to get ahead of the discussions that are happening now with the Canadians. Certainly there are a host of noncombat roles; obviously some aspects of training would be in that. Obviously you couldn’t — we’re not talking about pairing trainers with combat brigades that are out; that obviously would be a more common focus.

But understand, too, there’s a whole host of what we were just talking about in terms of governance issues and civilian activities — that you’ve seen a tremendous increase on our side in dedicating those resources over the past year that without a doubt other nations can help with, as they have in the past.

Yes, ma’am.

Q In Pittsburg, Sarkozy was asking for a deadline about Iran. And it seems that the deadline was December 31st. What is President Obama expecting from President Sarkozy about Iran? And I have a final question: Can we have some details about the menu tonight? (Laughter.)

MR. GIBBS: I don’t — I have no idea what they’re eating, but I will check —

Q French fries? (Laughter.)

MR. GIBBS: The French want to know. Well, I will check. I don’t even have — I come unarmed with even the slightest knowledge of what is on the menu.

Look, I think if you — as you mentioned, in Pittsburgh, Prime Minister Brown, President Sarkozy and President Obama, at an event that was certainly unplanned, let the world know of additional activities that the Iranians were undertaking that were far out of bounds with what was expected of them and certainly as it relates to the IAEA. I think as we move forward now, the leadership of both Presidents will be tremendously important in the upcoming push for sanctions and additional efforts that are needed to get the Iranians to live up to their many responsibilities that they’ve failed to live up to now.

I think there’s no doubt you’ll hear the President talk about the fact that President Sarkozy has been a leader on this and has spoken throughout the world on the necessity of the Iranians to live up to those responsibilities.

Helen.

Q What does the President think about the rising tide of right-wing extremism in this country — vandalism, anger, hate, guns, militias?

MR. GIBBS: Well, I think — look, as it relates to some of what we’ve seen around this health care debate and this health care vote, I think the President’s message that he’s delivered often, that in a country as strong and as rich as the United States — and when I talk about rich, I mean in values and tradition — our country was founded on open debate; passionate, open debate. But we ought to be able to disagree with one another, despite the passion that we each hold. We ought to be able to disagree without becoming disagreeable. And I would say that —

Q But in terms of the violence and armed militias and —

MR. GIBBS: And I would say that on both sides, that there’s no doubt — and I think, again, you heard the President say this yesterday — there’s no doubt that if you look at the rhetoric around some of these debates — and you’ve heard the President — the President talked about the notion that if you pass this, it’s Armageddon, yet somehow we’ve made it almost a week since the signature on the bill.

Look, as it relates to the indictments yesterday, obviously I have not talk to the President specifically about those except to say that certainly we will vigorously enforce the law against anybody who seeks to break it.

Q Who’s coming to dinner tonight?

THE PRESIDENT: The two Presidents and the two First Ladies.

Q That’s it?

MR. GIBBS: Two interpreters.

Q So it’s an entirely private affair?

MR. GIBBS: It is. You just have to take my word for it. (Laughter.)

Q Apparently, since there won’t be any pictures, right?

MR. GIBBS: I don’t think there are any planned pictures, no.

Q Are any of their children coming?

MR. GIBBS: Not to dinner that I’m aware of, no.

Yes, sir.

Q Can you shed any light on what the President said to Karzai about the relationship that he’s building with Ahmadinejad?

MR. GIBBS: I’ve not spoken with the President directly on that. I don’t think that — I would say that the notion that somehow in a stiff to us he went and got an invitation — invited somebody like Ahmadinejad to come to Kabul — I would remind people that Afghanistan and Iran share a border. I don’t think it’s — would be out of the ordinary for the Afghan government to deal with its neighbors.

Q But you don’t believe that any protocol or ceremonial aspect of that was at all aimed at —

MR. GIBBS: I don’t. Actually, I don’t.

Q And is it — what is the relationship with the President, with President Sarkozy in this respect? Do you feel like he — does the President feel like he gets these blunt assessments with President Sarkozy in private that we supposedly hear that he does? Is it a frank —

MR. GIBBS: What do you mean?

Q I mean, what kind of — what kind of dialogue and exchange do the two have? Is it frank? Is it blunt? Is it critical of the other in how they handle certain things?

MR. GIBBS: No, no, I think, Chuck, if you look at the whole host of issues that I think they’re going to discuss today and that you’ll hear the President speak about later, I think they’ve actually had a pretty good working relationship on virtually every one of those issues: obviously from the beginning of our activities and the President’s activities with the G20; in trying to put together in Copenhagen a deal on climate change. They have increased their share of troops in Afghanistan and they are an exceedingly valuable coalition partner. Obviously in the P5-plus-1 they’ve played an extremely important role and will continue to as we try to marshal the support of the world against the activities of Iran.

So I think they have a very good relationship. I think this will be — I think there is no doubt that President Sarkozy is an energetic and passionate leader. And what you will see later today is what the President sees when they sit down one on one.

Q That comes through in private?

MR. GIBBS: Again, I think he’s an energetic and passionate guy in private and in public.

Q Are you expecting France to play the lead role of getting the EU together on sanctions that can’t be done through the United Nations, so that what you get — whatever minimal sanctions you can get done on Iran — that they’re the — are they point —

MR. GIBBS: Well, look, I think they will, and I think obviously Great Britain will play a huge role in that. And, look, I think we will be dependent on the eloquence and passion of President Sarkozy and others in rallying the world for what will move to the U.N.

Q Unilaterally?

MR. GIBBS: Sorry?

Q Unilaterally?

MR. GIBBS: No, no, I mean through the United Nations — through the United Nations.

Yes, sir.

Q Robert, when Bill mentioned the Netanyahu meeting last week you said you were puzzled. Were you puzzled by the way it was portrayed in the press?

MR. GIBBS: Well, I’m puzzled by the notion that somehow it’s a bad deal to get two hours with the President almost entirely alone. That doesn’t seem like a lot of punishment to me.

Q There were a lot of Israeli reports that President Obama left the meeting suddenly, saying, as far as he was concerned, it was over. And he went to the Residence to have dinner, and he wasn’t expecting Netanyahu to remain in the White House and ask for another meeting. Was that accurate?

MR. GIBBS: I’m not going to get into the substance of what the two discussed. The President was — thought they had a good discussion in the first meeting, and was happy to come back and see Prime Minister Netanyahu in the Oval Office later than that.

Q Can you describe the nature of the relationship as it now stands?

MR. GIBBS: Between the United States and Israel?

Q Between President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu.

MR. GIBBS: Well, between the two countries, as I’ve said here countless times, there is an unbreakable bond between these two countries. The United States has long been dedicated to the security of an important ally. And that doesn’t — that hasn’t, in any way, changed. As a result of having a mature bilateral relationship, there are going to be things that this administration, and countless previous administrations, have disagreed with this Israeli government, as they have with countless previous Israeli governments.

I think as the President, though, discussed yesterday in his interview, that it is important for both sides to take the steps necessary to find a way to come back to these proximity talks; that we are at an important moment, and that either side walking away, both sides walking away, does not further the important cause that has to be undertaken to see Middle East peace.

Q May I follow up on that one, Robert?

MR. GIBBS: Yes.

Q Settlements in East Jerusalem versus settlements in the West Bank: It is a tradition that previous U.S. administrations criticized openly settlements in the West Bank. It seems to be a new tone that explicitly also settlements in East Jerusalem are criticized. Would you confirm that?

MR. GIBBS: Again, our view on this, as, again, the view of many administrations prior to ours, are that the issues around Jerusalem are important and they’re final status issues. We think that coming to the table, coming back to the table, developing the type of confidence and trust that both sides need in these proximity talks, is important to building a process to getting to those final status issues.

Hans.

Q You mentioned the G20 a second ago in the context of Iran, but on financial regulation, Sarkozy clearly is pushing for tighter financial regulations. This meeting, is it going to be an agreement to disagree? Are they going to work to narrow those differences ahead of the next G8 or G20?

MR. GIBBS: Well, I think you’ve probably all seen the joint letter that was put out today —

Q That letter was pretty thin gruel. I mean, it was diplomatic-speak, there wasn’t a whole lot there.

MR. GIBBS: Well, I will say this, Hans. We are working with our international friends on what we need to do on a global stage. We also want to make some progress on the rules of the road for what’s going on right here at home. There have been disagreements between us and others about how you respond to an economic slowdown. Those all played out. We feel quite comfortable with the decisions that we made. And understand that it’s important that we get strong rules of the road going forward not just internationally but, first and foremost, right here at home.

Q Do you think there will be a narrowing today between Sarkozy’s position and —

MR. GIBBS: Well, I will — I think that they’ll have an opportunity to discuss that. I don’t want to prejudge what happens prior to those discussions. No doubt this will be the — part of the subject of what they speak about publicly today.

Q Does there need to be a narrowing?

MR. GIBBS: Hold on a second.

Yes, ma’am.

Q Netanyahu comes back on the 14th. Do you expect the President to meet with him at that point?

MR. GIBBS: I don’t have a bilat schedule yet for the nuclear security summit.

Q Does there need to be a narrowing? Does the President feel that he and President Sarkozy agree on the scope of the new financial regulations that are needed?

MR. GIBBS: Well, again, I don’t want to get too in depth into what might be discussed internationally and whether things will or won’t narrow until — I’ll have a better sense of that when we get a readout of what the two discussed, rather than conjecture. Again, I think the President believes it’s extremely important that he and the Congress take affirmative actions to institute strong rules of the road going forward as it relates to our economy in this country.

Q Because President Sarkozy’s remarks a day or so ago suggest that he wasn’t happy with the distance Mr. Obama suggests he’s willing to travel on that, with the strength of the regulations the President might be willing to go along.

MR. GIBBS: Well, again, I think we’re enormously proud of where the legislation is at this point in the legislative process as it relates to our rules of the road. We’ve taken action throughout the G20 on a balanced and sustainable growth model, and one that includes strong international rules of the road. We’ll see what they have to say coming out of the meeting. But again, I think we’ve — the President is enormously proud of the steps that we’ve taken thus far, understanding that we’ve got to close the deal on this.

Q On health care reform, AT&T, several other companies announced today they’re taking charges because of the bill’s reform of a tax break for businesses that provide prescription drug coverage for their employees. Now, the fact that they’re taking the hit suggests they’re going to continue providing the coverage, but —

MR. GIBBS: There’s a 28-percent subsidy to do so.

Q There are also questions about whether this is a good time economically for big businesses to be taking these charges and whether that might discourage them from providing the coverage down the road.

MR. GIBBS: Well, let’s fully explain what’s happening here. As part of the Medicare Part D prescription drug legislation that passed in, I believe 2003, firms that provided coverage for retirees were given a 28-percent subsidy in order to continue providing that coverage. Right? That amount of money was not added to a company’s income. Right? So they got 28 percent to continue that, and under the previous law — which I think many considered to be a loophole — not only did they not get taxed on that 28 percent, but then they were able to write off the full amount spent on retiree prescription drug coverage — the money they kick in plus the 28 percent that taxpayers kick in.

So all this does is allow a company to simply write it off once by not counting it as income, rather than both not counting it as income and getting able — being able to write it off.

I would stress too, Wendell, that there are several billion dollars in the bill to help on retiree prescription drug benefits. There have been countless studies, one by the Business Roundtable, on the effect that business will see in lower premiums as a result of health care reform. And I would point out that — understand that AT&T took a charge, basically an accounting charge 30 years down the road, and the same day they did that, their stock went up. So I do think that — again, they have to do this based on accounting rules. But I think this has maybe been framed as a lot more than meets the eye.

Yes, ma’am.

Q With the President traveling to Maine and North Carolina later in the week, why is he going to those two places to talk about health care and the economy? And why isn’t he traveling to campaign with members who have tough races in 2010?

MR. GIBBS: Because the elections aren’t in March or April.
Q So can you tell me why he’s going to those two places?

MR. GIBBS: I don’t know why Maine was selected. I think one of the reasons was Karen Mills is our SBA Administrator and she’s from Maine, and we’re going to focus on — again, on the small business aspects of the health care reform. North Carolina is one of the states in the country that has seen fairly big unemployment in terms of their rate is north of 10 percent. And we will highlight a company that is seeing, as a result of some of the investments that they’ve made in creating the jobs of the future, increases that they’ve made in their hiring rolls, on Friday.

Q You say the midterms aren’t now, but weren’t some of the — one of the lessons of Virginia and Massachusetts getting the President into campaign —

MR. GIBBS: And there will be — there’s a thousand years before the next elections. You guys will have plenty of time to go cover them. The President is not focused on what happens the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. We’re focused on this Monday and this Tuesday.

Q Yes — what did I want to ask? (Laughter.) Did the President in his security briefings, has he been told that the number of these kind of militia groups seems to be growing dramatically in the last year? Is that a concern?

MR. GIBBS: I don’t know the degree to which — in the daily intelligence briefings?

Q Well, in any —

MR. GIBBS: I can certainly check and see if — I will check and see, and then I will check and see if it’s anything that we would make available.

Go ahead. (Cell phone rings.) What is that awkward music that somebody is —

Q Pretty tune, isn’t it?

Q It’s French.

Q It’s a French song.

MR. GIBBS: You can — just so you know, you can change the ring on your phone. (Laughter.)

Q To something louder.

MR. GIBBS: Or less weird. (Laughter.)

Go ahead.

Q Two questions. One —

Q Ring tone critic, are you? (Laughter.)

MR. GIBBS: Did you think that was —

Q That was Carla Bruni’s favorite song. (Laughter.)

MR. GIBBS: I’ll refer that to Chuck.

Go ahead.

Q Robert, two questions. One, President Obama made it possible, now it’s a done deal between the United States and India on civil nuclear agreement, because one — it was on his desk 123 Agreement — so that means, how is it going to affect the U.S.-India relations, and also is going to help the President and Mr. Singh to come closer on this —

MR. GIBBS: Well, obviously the President is a proponent of the agreement between the two countries; supported it in the Senate; and is glad that in an important region of the world we’re strengthening a very close bilateral relationship. Obviously the President, as you know and as many of you have seen, has spent considerable time on our relationships with Afghanistan, Pakistan and India in order to see security strengthened and our mutual goals worked on in an important region in the world.

Q And second, the President now is going to visit Indonesia to make his speech to the Arab and Muslim communities, which he had done in Turkey and in Egypt. Do you think before his visit to Indonesia and Australia or India he’s going to make his final speech here, because there’s a need for the Muslim and Arabic community —

MR. GIBBS: I don’t know of any plans to do that speech prior to Indonesia, when we slide the trip over to June as we had originally discussed.

Yes, sir.

Q Robert, is the President going to, as Senator Dodd wants to, focus on key Republicans and probably make a full-court press on getting them in on the financial recovery regulations that Dodd is going to press — which we’ll probably start having debate on it in just a few weeks — what’s his plan?

MR. GIBBS: Well, look, I think the President obviously is enormously supportive of the legislation moving forward, reiterating again the desire and the need to have strong rules in place. I anticipate that not only the President, but other members of the administration, will reach out and talk with Republicans in order to get them onboard supporting strong reforms.

I will say this: The President certainly is committed to reaching out, but understanding that the desire is not to see a weaker set of rules; the desire is to see strong rules going forward to ensure that what happened in September and October of 2008 can’t happen moving forward. And that will certainly be his focus.

Christi.

Q Robert, what does it mean that Hamid Karzai is coming to the White House in May? What’s the main event — the purpose of that —

MR. GIBBS: Say again? What’s the purpose? Certainly to continue the important discussions that the two Presidents and the two countries have. Christi, I think it’s important to understand, we have said — we said this before — we said this during the Afghanistan review, the President was quite clear about this on West Point: Our security gains that are made through the heroic activities of our military can only be preserved with strong governance to back those up. That’s what the President has been focused on in this relationship and that’s the progress that we have been monitoring and hope to continue to see.

Q Did Karzai make any particular commitments to the President along the lines of merit-based appointments — going after narcotics traffickers —

MR. GIBBS: Well, I will say there was a robust discussion on improving national and sub-national government, local and regional, and strengthening efforts to root out — identify and root out corruption, again, understanding as the President said, just how important better governance is going forward in order to match and preserve the security gains that General McChrystal and our troops are making on the ground.

Q And just one more thing if I could. Are there particular goal points or benchmarks that the President wants to have met by the time he — by the time that meeting takes place here?

MR. GIBBS: Well, again, without getting into a lot of the substance that the two discussed privately, obviously, the President understands — I think both Presidents understand what they’d like to see moving forward. We evaluate that constantly.

Again, the President is aware, as I’ve said two or three times now, that all that’s being done militarily has to be matched on the governance side. And I think what the President and the team are focused on is ensuring that as we focus on what’s happening militarily, we don’t take our eyes off the ball in what has to happen on the ground at all levels of the government in order to improve the coordination of activities that are necessary to preserve those security gains.

Q Robert, on immigration reform, Senator Graham, the other day, said, that the White House has done almost nothing. I’m wondering what your response is to that, and if there’s anything that you plan to do to show a seriousness of purpose on immigration.

MR. GIBBS: Well, I, not surprisingly, would likely disagree with that characterization. I think the President has been a strong advocate and proponent of immigration reform, understanding, again, this is — I get asked all the time about bipartisanship, about, well, you can’t just — you guys can’t just go this alone, right? Well, this is not an issue that’s going to be decided by just getting all the Democratic members to support immigration reform. There has to be — there have to be Republicans that come aboard, too. There have to be efforts that Senator Graham is working on in order to continue to convince those that supported immigration reform in 2005 and 2006 when it was voted on in the full Senate, that of those members that remain, that they’re ready, willing, and able to do this again.

Those conversations the President is likely to have with Republican members in the near future, and we’ll gauge whether or not it’s possible to move forward on this issue. But this can’t just be a — this can’t just be President Obama. This can’t just be President Obama and the Democratic Senate. Quite frankly, it probably can’t just be President Obama, the Democratic Senate, and Lindsay Graham. It has to be others. And I think many will get an opportunity to weigh in on that.

Q Is there any chance that the White House is going to write a bill?

MR. GIBBS: I think we put out a strong statement in support of many of the aspects of the legislation that Senator Graham is working on with Senator Schumer. I think they’re still going through a full evaluative process of that. But obviously many aspects of that the President finds greatly appealing.

Yes, sir.

Q Robert, on Iran, Secretary Clinton, in Moscow last week, said that she would pursue sanctions that I think the word she used was “biting.” Since then, there have been these reports that maybe these sanctions are going to be watered down in order to get everybody onboard. Does that mean they’re going to be biting, or not?

MR. GIBBS: Well, I was amused that, in two different publications there were two different stories and two different views on the sanctions in each of those stories — just last week. So I guess it depends on who leaks what.

I would simply say that —

Q And to whom.

MR. GIBBS: And to whom, right. Good point. (Laughter.) Thank you, Mark, for adding that.

I would say that we have instituted through the Treasury Department some unilateral sanctions on Iran’s military. And no doubt one of the topics that President Sarkozy and President Obama will spend a lot of time on today is exactly what those sanctions look like moving forward, understanding that sanctions are part of an effort to get Iran to change their behavior. And that’s certainly what we’re looking for.

Q In particular, can you talk about two things that have been discussed — the cutting off of gasoline imports to Iran, and also shipping lanes and commercial —

MR. GIBBS: I’m not going to get into specifics at this point.

April.

Q Robert, the March 31st deadline is just hours away for the Black Farmers, and there is a concern by the CBC and the Black Farmers that the deadline will not be met, and they are pushing for an extension of the deadline. And they are hopeful that this White House is looking for an extension as well. Is that the case?

MR. GIBBS: I don’t have an update on this, but let me check with OMB and others on this.

Q So if I’m correct, the President did want this to happen by March 31st, correct?

MR. GIBBS: Yes.

Q So, I mean —

MR. GIBBS: So let me check on what I just said as it related to the first question that you asked.

Yes, ma’am.

Q Over successive weeks, Congressman Barney Frank has asked the White House to clarify whether it would like to see legislative action taken this year on “don’t ask, don’t tell.” He’s said that direction from the White House has been muddled, and then at one point said that you guys were actually sort of ducking whether or not you wanted to see legislation action taken on repeal. Would the President like to see that law —

MR. GIBBS: Well, Carol, I would just say this, I don’t think what Admiral Mullen and Secretary Gates have enunciated on this appears muddled to anyone. I don’t — there is a process that’s in place to move forward on the President’s commitment to repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell.”

I don’t — Admiral Mullen is the first chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to sit up in front of Congress and say that the law ought to be repealed — not somebody who is retired, not somebody who is long past their commitment of serving their country, but somebody who sat up there and said that. And Secretary Gates and the commission at the Pentagon have taken some important steps.

We’re following that process. We’ll see where the legislative road takes us as we continue to build support to keep the commitment that the President has made.

Q So the President would feel perfectly comfortable letting the next Congress take that up?

MR. GIBBS: Well, again, we’re going to follow the process and the path that are underway with the clear direction that the President has given to repeal this.

Q Has the President had any reaction to the current crisis in the Catholic Church?

MR. GIBBS: I have not talked to him about this.

Q Does the White House have any response to — the revelations?

MR. GIBBS: Let me see what folks have here and I will make sure I have that for tomorrow.

Thanks, guys.

END
3:01 P.M. EDT

White House.gov Press Office Feed

03.30.10 08:15 AM

11:04 A.M. EDT

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Fired up!

THE PRESIDENT: Fired up! (Laughter.)

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Obama! (Laughter.)

DR. BIDEN: Good morning, everyone, and thank you for being here today. I’m Jill Biden and I am honored to be a community college instructor. (Applause.) I have been a teacher for almost three decades and a community college instructor for the past 16 years. In fact, I’m an English teacher right here on this campus. (Applause.) It’s my great pleasure to welcome you all to Northern Virginia Community College. (Applause.)

Last week, our President signed an historic health care bill that will provide quality, affordable medical care for millions of Americans. (Applause.) Today we are here to celebrate another historic piece of legislation — one that will make a college education a reality for millions of middle-class Americans. (Applause.)

All of us here today know that higher education is essential to the success of our children and vital to the economic future of our country. But too many American families, they’ve had to take on crushing debt to pursue a college degree. I see every day in my classroom just how hard my students work in order to pay their tuition bills. Often their family budgets are stretched to the limit. And when things get tough — someone loses a job or a family member gets sick — a college education is the first thing to go.

Thanks to the leadership of President Obama, our Vice President, and members of Congress here today, families across the country will find it a little easier to get to college and stay in college. (Applause.)

I am pleased to say that the reforms in this bill will make a huge difference to those Americans who need it most. The expansions in Pell Grants will provide critical financial support to millions of middle-class Americans who are struggling with the costs of college. The caps on student loan repayments will ensure that our students don’t go broke because they chose to pursue a college education. And I am particularly thrilled that this bill invests in community colleges across our country so that more students can gain the knowledge and technical job skills that they need to compete and succeed.

I have seen firsthand the power of community colleges to change lives and serve as a gateway to opportunity for students at all stages of their lives and careers. This bill increases investments in community colleges around the country to help these institutions do what they do best — prepare our students for the workforce of today and tomorrow.

The President has set an ambitious goal for higher education in this country. By 2020, we want America once again to have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world. (Applause.) To make this happen, we’ll need to invest in these students and invest in the colleges that they will attend.

The bill that President Obama will sign here today is a huge step forward toward meeting our goal. I can’t think of a better investment in America’s future.

I’m proud to be here as a community college instructor, and I am especially proud and honored to introduce a President who is making higher education a reality for millions more Americans.

Please welcome President Barack Obama. (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Alexandria! Thank you very much. (Applause.) Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you, everybody. (Applause.) Please, have a seat.

Thank you, Dr. Biden, for that outstanding introduction and for putting up with Joe. (Laughter.) I want to also thank Dr. Biden for being one of the thousands of instructors all across the country who make such a difference in the lives of students each and every day. So we are very proud of you for that. (Applause.)

I want to thank President Templin and the entire NOVA Community College family for hosting us here today — you can applaud for that. (Applause.)

On stage we’ve got a couple of my outstanding Cabinet members: Secretary Sebelius and Secretary Arne Duncan — please give them a big round of applause. (Applause.) In the audience we’ve got Secretary Salazar of Interior; Secretary Donovan of HUD; and Ambassador Ron Kirk, our U.S. Trade Representative — please give them a big round of applause. (Applause.)

To all the outstanding members of Congress who made this day possible — and I’m going to mainly single out the amazing Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi. (Applause.)

Today, we mark an important milestone on the road to health insurance reform and higher education reform. But, more broadly, this day affirms our ability to overcome the challenges of our politics and meet the challenges of our time.

When I took office, one of the questions we needed to answer was whether it was still possible to make government responsive to the needs of everyday people, middle-class Americans, the backbone of this country; or whether the special interests and their lobbyists would continue to hold sway, like they’ve done so many times before. And that’s a test we met one week ago, when health insurance reform became the law of the land in the United States of America. (Applause.)

And it’s a test we met later in the week when Congress passed higher education reforms that will have a tremendous impact on working families — and America’s future. That’s two major victories in one week that will improve the lives of our people for generations to come. (Applause.)

Now, I’ve said before and I’ve repeated this week the health insurance reform bill I signed won’t fix every problem in our health care system in one fell swoop. But it does represent some of the toughest insurance reforms in history. It represents a major step forward towards giving Americans with insurance -– and those without -– a sense of security when it comes to their health care. It enshrines the principle that when you get sick, you’ve got a society there, a community, that is going to help you get back on your feet. It represents meaningful progress for the American people.

And today, I’m signing a bill that will make a number of improvements to these core reforms. We’ll increase the size of tax credits to help middle-class families and small businesses pay for their health insurance. (Applause.)

We’re going to offer $250 to seniors who fall in the Medicare coverage gap known as the doughnut hole to help them pay for prescriptions, and that’s a first step towards closing that gap completely. (Applause.)

We’ll make a significant new investment in community health centers all across America that can provide high-quality primary care to people who need it most. (Applause.) And we’ll strengthen efforts to combat waste and fraud and abuse, to make sure your dollars aren’t lining the pockets of insurance companies when they should be making your health care better. (Applause.)

Now, the debate on health care reform is one that’s gone on for generations, and I’m glad — I’m gratified that we were able to get it done last week. But what’s gotten overlooked amid all the hoopla, all the drama of last week, is what happened in education — when a great battle pitting the interests of the banks and financial institutions against the interests of students finally came to an end. (Applause.)

You see, for almost two decades, we’ve been trying to fix a sweetheart deal in federal law that essentially gave billions of dollars to banks to act as unnecessary middlemen in administering student loans. So those are billions of dollars that could have been spent helping more of our students attend and complete college; that could have been spent advancing the dreams of our children; that could have been spent easing the burden of tuition on middle-class families. Instead, that money was spent padding student lenders’ profits.

Now, it probably won’t surprise you to learn that the big banks and financial institutions hired a army of lobbyists to protect the status quo. In fact, Sallie Mae, America’s biggest student lender, spent more than $3 million on lobbying last year alone.

But I didn’t stand with the banks and the financial industries in this fight. That’s not why I came to Washington. And neither did any of the members of Congress who are here today. We stood with you. We stood with America’s students. (Applause.) And together, we finally won that battle.

I don’t have to tell folks here at NOVA why this victory matters. In the 21st century, when the success of every American hinges more than ever on the quality of their education, and when America’s success as a nation rests more than ever on an educated workforce that is second to none, we can’t afford to waste billions of dollars on giveaways to banks.

We need to invest that money in our students. We need to invest in our community colleges. We need to invest in the future of this country. We need to meet the goal I set last year and graduate more of our students than any other nation by the year 2020. And through the extraordinary leadership of Education Secretary Arne Duncan, that’s what the reforms I’m signing today will help us do. (Applause.)

By cutting out the middleman, we’ll save American taxpayers $68 billion in the coming years — $68 billion. That’s real money — (laughter) — real savings that we’ll reinvest to help improve the quality of higher education and make it more affordable.

Now, we’ve already taken a number of steps through the Recovery Act and through my budget to significantly increase the support provided to young people attending colleges and universities all across the country.

And I just — President Templin handed me a sheet just as I walked in. Just in case you’re wondering whether this makes a difference, so far this year — and the year isn’t over — right here at NOVA, Pell Grant recipients increased by 41 percent over last year. (Applause.) The total dollar amount of Pell Grants increased by 59 percent. The number of federally guaranteed loans increased by 43 percent and loan awards increased by 68 percent. That’s right here at this one community college, because of the steps that we had already taken. (Applause.)

So using the $68 billion that we’re saving, that had been going to the banks, here’s what we’re going to be able to do. First, we will reinvest a portion of those savings to upgrade our community colleges, which are one of the great, undervalued assets in our education system. (Applause.)

Community colleges like NOVA are incredibly important because they serve a varied group of learners, from recent high school grads seeking a pathway to a college degree, to adults seeking training for the jobs of tomorrow. By forging private sector partnerships, community colleges can offer students the education and training they need to find a good job when they graduate — and it helps offer businesses the assurance they need that graduates will be ready for the jobs that they’re hired to do.

And because community colleges like NOVA are so essential to a competitive workforce, I’ve asked your outstanding professor, Dr. Jill Biden — who does not have enough to do — (laughter) — to host a summit on community colleges at the White House this fall. And we’re going to bring everybody together, from educators to students, experts to business leaders. (Applause.) We are going to bring everybody together to share innovative ideas about how we can help students earn degrees and credentials, and to forge private sector partnerships so we can better prepare America’s workforce and America’s workers to succeed in the 21st century.

Now, to help open the doors of higher education to more students, we’ll also reinvest part of that $68 billion in savings in Pell Grants, one of the most popular forms of financial aid. Pell Grants once covered more than three-quarters of the cost of going to college. But now, because the cost of college has skyrocketed, the amount Pell Grants cover is about one-third.

Today, students hoping to attend college on a Pell Grant are going to be able to feel more secure, because not only are we going to offer over 800,000 additional Pell awards over the next 10 years, we’re also going to raise the amount they’re worth to almost $6,000, so that inflation doesn’t erode the value of your grant. (Applause.)

And we’ll put the entire Pell Grant program on firmer footing for years to come. Altogether, we are more than doubling the amount of Pell Grant funding that was available when I took office –- it’s one of the most significant investments in higher education since the G.I. Bill. (Applause.)

Now, third, we’re going to restore a measure of fairness to how students repay their loans. Today, two out of every three students graduates with help from a loan, and often they take on a mountain of debt as a result. Here in Virginia, the typical student carries almost $20,000 in debt. Across the country, the average student graduates with over $23,000 in debt. I know what that’s like. Michelle and I had big debts coming out of school — debts we weren’t able to fully repay until just a few years before I started running for office.

Today, we’re making it easier for responsible students to pay off their loans. Right now, if you’re a borrower, you don’t have to spend more than 15 percent of your income on loans. But starting in 2014, you won’t have to pay more than 10 percent of your income in repaying your student loans. (Applause.) That will make a meaningful difference for over one million more students. We’re also going to give students an incentive to do what’s right — if you pay your loans on time, you’ll only have to pay them off for 20 years. And you’ll only have to pay them off for 10 years if you repay them with service to your community, and to our country, as a teacher or a nurse or a member of our Armed Forces. (Applause.)

Finally, we’ll reinvest some of the $68 billion in savings to strengthen our Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority Serving Institutions. (Applause.) These are institutions that have struggled more than most in these tough economic times.

The reforms in this bill are significant, but they’re just part of a broader effort to strengthen our entire higher education system. We’re putting college tuition tax credits in the pockets of millions of students from working families to help them pay for college. We’ve taken steps to simplify the federal college assistance form -– called the FAFSA -– because it shouldn’t take a PhD to apply for financial aid. (Applause.) And we’re helping ensure that America’s high school graduates are ready for college. All of this is paid for. We’re redirecting money that was poorly spent to make sure we’re making investments in our future.

Now, this won’t solve all of our problems in higher education. We continue to expect colleges and universities to do their part to hold down tuition increases. (Applause.) That has to happen. We’ve got to work on that. And we also need to take greater initiative not only to help more students enter college, we’ve got to make sure that we see more students successfully earn a college degree. But what we’ve done over the past year represents enormous progress.

So I’ll close by saying this. For a long time, our student loan system has worked for banks and financial institutions. Today, we’re finally making our student loan system work for students and our families. But we’re also doing something more.
From the moment I was sworn into office, I’ve spoken about the urgent need for us to lay a new foundation for our economy and for our future. And two pillars of that foundation are health care and education, and each has long suffered from problems that we chose to kick down the road.

With the bill I signed last week, we finally undertook meaningful reform of our health care system. With this bill, and other steps we’ve pursued over the last year, we are finally undertaking meaningful reform in our higher education system. So this week, we can rightly say the foundation on which America’s future will be built is stronger than it was one year ago. (Applause.)

And so at the end of this extraordinary week, I want to acknowledge some of the people who made it possible. There isn’t time to single out everyone who’s here, the outstanding members of Congress, but I want to make sure I once again say this would not have happened had it not been for the leadership of Speaker Nancy Pelosi — (applause) — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid — (applause) — Senator Dick Durbin and Congressman Steny Hoyer. All provided outstanding leadership that our nation needed. (Applause.)

On health care, Max Baucus, Chris Dodd, Henry Waxman, Charlie Rangel, and so many others offered invaluable expertise throughout the year. (Applause.) Congressmen George Miller, Jim Clyburn, Dale Kildee, Ruben Hinojosa led the way in the House on education reforms that I sign today. (Applause.)

Senator Tom Harkin’s dedication ensured that the Senate would include these reforms in this bill. (Applause.) Virginia’s own Bobby Scott, and an outstanding freshman, Tom Perriello helped to make this thing possible. (Applause.) We are grateful to them.

Courage is an essential ingredient in any landmark legislation, particularly when the attacks are as fierce and unrelenting — and inaccurate — (laughter) — as they have been over the past year. I just want to commend members of Congress who had the courage to do what’s right — (applause) — and to say a special thank you to all of the newer members. (Applause.)
The past couple of years have brought one challenge after another, and you’ve risen to the moment each time. I could not be prouder of the work that all of you have done. And it would not have happened had it not been for the incredible persistence and stick-to-itiveness of all the folks in the audience here today.

Ultimately, Congress responds to the voices that they’re hearing in their communities, and so many of you have written letters and come to meetings and let people know of the ordinary struggles that people are going through each and every day. You’re what provided members of Congress the courage that they needed to do what was right. And so on behalf of all of us who are serving in Washington, we want to thank you, the American people, for your outstanding leadership. (Applause.)

And with that, I’m going to sign this bill. Thank you very much. (Applause.)

(The bill is signed.) (Applause.)

END
11:32 A.M. EDT

White House.gov Press Office Feed

03.30.10 07:22 AM

Legislation will end government subsidies to banks for guaranteed federal student loans and free nearly $68 billion for college affordability and deficit reduction

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, President Obama signed the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, which delivered a significant down payment on the President’s ambitious agenda to make higher education more affordable and help more Americans earn a college degree.

This legislation strengthens the Pell Grant program, invests in community colleges, extends support for Historically Black Colleges and other Minority Serving Institutions, and helps student borrowers manage their student loan debt by capping repayments at 10% of their discretionary income. These efforts will be fully paid for by ending the government subsidies currently given to banks and other financial institutions that make guaranteed federal student loans and free up nearly $68 billion for college affordability and deficit reduction over the next 11 years.

“For a long time, our student loan system has worked for banks and financial institutions,” President Obama said. “Today, we’re finally making our student loan system work for students and all of our families.”

“This legislation is a win for students and parents struggling to make ends meet to fulfill the dream of a college education,” Education Secretary Arne Duncan said. “By ending subsidies to banks, we can make important investments that increase affordability and access to our nation’s universities and community colleges.”

This historic law:

Invests more than $40 billion in Pell Grants to ensure that all eligible students receive an award and that these awards are increased in future years to help keep pace with the rising cost of college. These investments, coupled with the funding provided in the Recovery Act and the President’s first two budgets, will more than double the total amount of funding available for Pell Grants since President Obama took office. Ensures that Americans can afford their student loan payments by expanding the existing income-based student loan repayment program. New borrowers who assume loans after July 1, 2014, will be able to cap their student loan repayments at 10 percent of their discretionary income and, if they keep up with their payments over time, will have the balance forgiven after 20 years. Includes $2 billion over four years for community colleges to develop, improve, and provide education and career training programs. President Obama also asked Dr. Jill Biden to host a White House Summit on Community Colleges this fall to provide an opportunity for community college leaders, students, education experts, business leaders, and others to share innovative ways to educate our way to a better economy. Click HERE for a link to a video from the Second Lady, Dr. Jill Biden. Starting July 1, all new federal student loans will be direct loans, delivered and collected by private companies under performance-based contracts with the Department of Education. According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, ending these wasteful subsidies will free up nearly $68 billion for college affordability and deficit reduction over the next 11 years.

Click HERE for more information and fact sheets on this historic legislation.

White House.gov Press Office Feed

03.30.10 05:02 AM

March 29, 2010

Dear G20 Colleagues,

In Pittsburgh we committed to make the G20 the premier forum for international economic co-operation. As the past, current, and future chairs of the G20 Leaders’ Summits, we are writing to you today to emphasise the need to implement our commitments to ensure strong macroeconomic policy cooperation and to continue our regulatory reform to strengthen the international financial system.

Last week, our Sherpas met in Ottawa to review key elements of the G20 agenda in 2010 and to map out the main tasks ahead for us. Good progress was made in that meeting in setting the stage for the Toronto summit and in looking ahead to Seoul. The meeting also highlighted the important impact of the decisive and collective actions we have taken during our last three summits. Together, our efforts have succeeded in stimulating a recovery of the global economy and avoiding a total breakdown of the financial system.

But our task is not yet complete. The nascent recovery in the world economy remains fragile. Current strains illustrate the continuing risks to global economic and financial stability. It is vital that we, in a spirit of enlightened self-interest, continue to work together to achieve our mutual objectives in addressing new and emerging risks, safeguarding stability, and supporting a robust return to growth and job creation in all our economies. Our goal must be to strengthen the global financial system and build a stronger global economy rooted in sustainable growth and prosperity for all.

Our first objective is the return to sustained growth and job creation. To fulfil this objective, we need to design cooperative strategies and work together to ensure that our fiscal, monetary, foreign exchange, trade and structural policies are collectively consistent with strong, sustainable and balanced growth. It is in the interests of each country and each region to contribute to these objectives through better cooperation with the global community. We all understand that ongoing trade, fiscal and structural imbalances cannot lead to strong and sustainable growth. Without cooperative action to make the necessary adjustments to achieve that outcome, the risk of future crises and low growth will remain. All G20 countries must move quickly to implement the first steps of the new Framework agreed to in Pittsburgh – to report robustly on what each of us can do to contribute to strong, sustainable and balanced global growth.

Following the completion of the IMF’s report on the collective consistency of our national policies, we will need to agree in Toronto on the major risks to global economic stability and sustained growth, and policy options on which we will base the actions we must take together to minimize these risks. We will also need to develop more specific policy recommendations for our Seoul Summit in November.

We must ensure that our international financial institutions are strengthened to meet the needs of today’s global economy. Reforms are needed to enhance their credibility, legitimacy and effectiveness, to reflect the strong growth in dynamic emerging and developing countries, and to equip them to foster sustainable growth, promote financial stability and lift the lives of the poorest. We must follow through and complete the governance reforms we agreed to in Pittsburgh by the deadlines we set.

The G20 must go beyond merely advocating for trade and against protectionism. With regard to Doha, we need to determine whether we can achieve the greater level of ambition necessary to make an agreement feasible. Since last summer, a number of countries have engaged directly with each other to advance this goal. To reach a successful outcome we must give political impetus to our negotiators, which should also be reflected in national actions. We must continue to resist protectionist pressures, and to promote liberalization of trade and investment through the national reduction of barriers, as well as through bilateral and regional negotiations.

Action is also needed to improve access to diverse, reliable, affordable and clean sources of energy which are critical for sustainable growth. We must therefore reinvigorate our work to improve the functioning of energy markets and to phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies that distort markets and impede investment in clean energy sources for the future.

Collectively we have been making steady progress toward stabilizing and strengthening the global financial system by fortifying prudential oversight, improving risk management, promoting transparency, and reinforcing international cooperation. While confidence in the financial system has improved, more work is required to restore the soundness of some global banks’ balance sheets, to avoid leaving the global financial system vulnerable and restricting its ability to provide the credit needed to fuel sustainable economic growth.

We all have a mutual responsibility to deliver on all our commitments to address the weaknesses that led to the financial crisis. This will require that we maintain our vigilance to address the required reforms and guard against complacency as our economies recover.

There can be no let up in our commitment to:

develop, by the end of this year, strong international rules on capital and liquidity so that banks have the level and quality of resources they need to cover the risks they take, supplemented by a fully harmonized leverage ratio as an element of the Basel framework. These new rules must be implemented as soon as financial conditions improve and the economic recovery is assured, with the aim of national implementation by end-2012. All major financial centres must also have adopted the Basel II framework by 2011; strengthen the infrastructure of key financial markets to enhance their resilience and reduce the risks of contagion. Standardised over-the-counter derivatives contracts should be traded on exchanges or electronic platforms, where appropriate, cleared through central clearing counterparties by 2012 at the latest, and reported to trade repositories; address together the remuneration practices that encourage short-term and excessive risk taking by fully implementing the internationally-agreed compensation standards as set out by the Financial Stability Board; move forward to create a framework to address cross-border resolutions of systemically important financial institutions. This should include establishing crisis management groups for major cross-border firms and resolution tools and frameworks that will reduce moral hazard. Prudential standards for systemically important institutions should be proportional with the costs of their failure; and honouring our commitments to lead by example by implementing international standards and agreeing to undergo periodic peer reviews to evaluate our adherence to these standards. Achieving the ambitious peer review agenda that has been set for 2010 will be an important milestone. We look forward to reviewing in Toronto the report we commissioned from the IMF on the range of options countries have adopted or are considering as to how the financial sector could make a fair and substantial contribution toward paying for any burdens associated with government interventions to repair the banking system.

Our finance ministers and central bank governors will review progress and report to Leaders in Toronto and in Seoul on the priority actions needed to meet our commitments, and whether further impetus may be required to ensure that established timelines are met.

Now is the time for the Leaders of the G20 both to recommit themselves and deliver on the ambitious reform objectives and agenda we have already agreed to and to explore cooperative approaches to meeting our common goals. We all know that an agreement to act is just a start. It is acting on the agreement that matters. We are all accountable. The challenges we face are great, but the rewards of success are greater still. We are confident that, by acting together, with common purpose and shared resolve, we can deliver the sustainable growth and prosperity our citizens deserve.

STEPHEN HARPER
Prime Minister
Canada

LEE MYUNG-BAK
President
Republic of Korea

GORDON BROWN
Prime Minister
United Kingdom

BARACK OBAMA
President
United States of America

NICOLAS SARKOZY
President of the French Republic

White House.gov Press Office Feed